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Conflict over Cape Town's minstrels resolved?
6 Oct 2011
The annual Minstrels' Carnival in Cape Town on 2 January every year may be resolved so that marchers will be able to again freely move through the Bo-Kaap streets after the city council restricted the number of troupes permitted to do so.
Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Second New Year) has been the traditional day for the carnival, which attracts thousands of spectators but, since 2009 the city authorities have argued that the day is not an official public holiday and disrupts business in the city.
However, Cape Town's mayor, Patricia de Lille has now appointed retired Constitutional Court Judge, Kate O'Regan to act as a mediator and to lead negotiations between the minstrels and the city officials.
Cape Malay Choir Board president, Shafiek April says they will listen to the city's point of view and will attend a mediation hearing. However, he says, they will not accept a restriction on how many troupes are allowed to march through Bo-Kaap.
He says the event has immense historical and cultural significance for the people of Cape Town and for many thousands of other spectators who enjoy the parade.
Read more about the carnival.
About Paddy Hartdegen
Paddy Hartdegen has been working as a journalist and writer for the past 40 years since his first article was published in the Sunday Tribune when he was just 16-years-old. He has written 13 books, edited a plethora of business-to-business publications and written for most of the major newspapers in South Africa.
