Following the contestation by the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association (CTMCA) around the venue change for the upcoming Tweede Nuwe Jaar festivities, with the court ruling in their favour on 29 December 2025, the CTMCA’s Sedick Soeker said that the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association (KKKA) is “in cohorts with the City.”
Soeker told VOC News that the KKKA has “sold out the culture to the highest bidder.”
He confirmed that the CTMCA has made an application for the route to be declared a heritage route following the proposed route change.
“We will stick to this route – we will never ever agree to any other route,” emphasised Soeker.
Meanwhile, the CTMCA’s legal representative, Junaid Jumat, explained that his client made an application to utilise Vygieskraal Stadium for the annual competition, and that the application was initially successful but was unexpectedly rescinded.
“However, two days later, the said approval was withdrawn, and our client tried to engage with the City to obtain further reasons, and engage them as to what other venues are available for them to use,” explained Jumat.
“My clients felt they were being unfairly treated by the City of Cape Town due to the approval being revoked. After bringing the application to court on an urgent basis, the honour judge found that the matter is urgent and that the respondent, the City, is to make available a suitable venue within the jurisdiction for the hosting of the applicant’s minstrel competition events,” stated Jumat.
Jumat added that the City was also ordered to take all steps necessary to facilitate the applicant’s compliance with the applicable event permit requirements.
Furthermore, the City released a statement on the ruling, expressing “disappointment by the judgment handed down in the Western Cape High Court” late last night in the matter involving the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association (CTMCA).
“While the CTMCA’s booking of Vygieskraal Stadium was initially provisionally approved by the City, it was still subject to the completion and fulfilment of standard operational, safety, and legislative assessments and requirements,” stated the City.
According to the City, the CTMCA failed to submit the mandatory documentation required for the processing of an event permit application.
“In the absence of complete documentation, the City was unable to lawfully proceed with the permit review process for the CTMCA competitions.”
“Key among these is that Vygieskraal is graded to accommodate only low-risk events, while minstrel events are classified as medium-risk by SAPS. As such, the venue does not meet the minimum requirements of the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act to host medium-risk graded events of this nature,” added the City.
*VOC News reached out to the KKKA for comment on this matter but received no response.
This is still a developing story as the route change remains unresolved.
Photo: Source/Wikimedia Commons
