R370m Youth fest blunders on as delegates kiss, sing, dance and sleep

One can only wonder how the Pikanin boss of the ANC kindergarten, Chairman of the all important NYDA, Andile Lungisa, managed to convince the tight fisted bastards of the National Lottery (NLDTF) to part so speedily with R40million for the Atteridgeville piss-up.

ANC Youth League linked to botched events tender.
Will taxpayers foot the R370m bill?

THE MULTIMILLION rand totalitarian talk shop World Youth Festival was not being run by an unregistered tender company owned by ANC Youth League members, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) said yesterday.

This followed reports of tender irregularities within the events management company which allegedly won the tender to run the event, Global Interface Consulting.

“I’m the convener,” NYDA chairman Andile Lungisa told journalists in Pretoria when questioned about the controversy. “I’m running the event with Tiago Vieira, the president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.

“I don’t know whether I’ve been sold now to be a company. I’m not an Ltd.”

He said NYDA had been approached by the company but that it had failed to deliver and so was not assisting in any way in the 10-day festival. Lungisa said the company, owned by members of the ANC Youth League’s national provincial council, did not have enough capacity.

It has also emerged that Global Interface Consulting was not registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office. But Lungisa said it was not his responsibility to see to it that the company was registered.

“We support people who start initiatives. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if you’re not registered then you can’t work with us because we… must empower the youth.”

NYDA reportedly had advertised a contract for an events management company only on August 30, giving interested bidders just 10 days to put in proposals. The contract was on October 29.

The "Let's defeat imperialism" festival got off to a slow start with some teething problems on Monday. Many delegates were not attending sessions but rather playing games in Pretoria.

The major problem was food, then transport. Some people complained that they were being mistreated and had gone for days without food.

Awarded Lungisa, however, hit back. “This is not called a wine and food festival. People will not get a three-course meal. There’s food for people to eat, but no one is going to die after this festival,” he said.

In addition, at least four Moroccan delegates were injured in what is believed to be political infighting between them and delegates from Western Sahara. A camera belonging to a delegate from Iraq was allegedly stolen yesterday.

But Lungisa defended the anti-imperialism-themed festival, particularly with regard to apparent widespread kissing among delegates. “The kissing game is going to continue,” he said. “They are not in a prison. They are part of this festival. We need to provide an opportunity for exchange.”

The number of people attending workshops grew yesterday, in contrast to the scene outside, where groups of mostly South Africans were singing and dancing. Lungisa defended this behaviour, saying South Africa was a nation of song and dance.

Meanwhile, the R40 million granted by the National Lotteries Board to the festival was double the amount it gave to the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Cup. And an amount "greater than the entire annual budget for the Cotlands orphanage"

According to the Lotto's website it is required to distribute 45% of its funds to charities; 22% to arts, culture and national heritage and 5% for miscellaneous purposes.

Wasting taxpayers' money - again, still, whatever!

The presidency promised R29m to host the nine-day left-wing youth festival themed "Let's defeat imperialism" but this appeared to be far too little. NYDA Chairman, Andile Lungisa, had been reported as saying they need closer to R370m to cover their costs.

And Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has revealed that his department also pledged R300 000 towards the festival budget and paid R190 288 for an exhibition stand.

Cosatu and the DA both called for an investigation into the grant and a full audit of how the people’s money from the National Lotteries Board and the government was spent.

It issued a statement yesterday deploring the reported shambles at the festival in which speakers were not confirmed and did not arrive, seven out of 18 seminars on Tuesday were cancelled and visitors complained of “bad food, a lack of transport and poor co-ordination of accommodation arrangements”.

Several dodgy regimes were included in the participants list - North Korea and Zimbabwe is among them.