Johannesburg - The North West Department of Arts and Culture has remained mum over the adjudication process followed by the department when it finally chose the winning bidder to organise the province’s biggest annual festival, Mahika Mahikeng Cultural Festival.
The festival, which has been on a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic since 2019, will be making its return to the province’s social calendar next month.
However, the Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson for arts and culture in the province, Winston Rabotapi, said the party wants full transparency over the selection of the festival’s new service provider and organiser, Mega Works Trading Enterprise 200 (Pty) Ltd, following reports of favouritism towards certain bidders over others.
"The DA in North West demands full transparency over the three-year, R40 million contract awarded to Mega Works Trading Enterprise 200 (Pty) Ltd for managing the Mahika Mahikeng Festival," the party said.
Rabotapi said although the party welcomed the return of the festival to the social calendar of the province, it was not convinced protocol was followed in arriving at the winner of the bid.
"Although we welcome, in principle, the event's comeback following an extended hiatus brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak and the opportunity it presents to display and promote North West talent as well as the province's economic benefits, concerns about the tendering procedure still exist," he said.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in many festivals being cancelled due to travel and gathering restrictions, the Mahika Mahikeng Festival was initially meant to take place in December 2022, but was further moved back amid allegations that the owner of Mega Works irregularly enjoyed preferential consideration during the tender bidding process. The event will now be held from March 17-19, 2023, according to reports.
Rabotapi said the party has written to the MEC for Arts, Culture, Sports, and Recreation, Kenosi Mosenogi, requesting the full details of the bid adjudication process that led to Mega Works being awarded this R40 million, three-year contract.
"We want to know how many bids were received, the names of each company, the cost of each bid, the names of the members of the bid adjudication committee, and their record of decision," the party said.
The North West Department of Arts and Culture had not responded to questions sent to them at the time of going to print.
However, in a recent interview with OFM, a spokesperson for the department, Shuping Sebolecwe, said the event was moved back in the best interest of fairness, transparency, and good governance following a dispute over the bidding process.
The Star