A local open air expo, which focuses on sustainability and self-sufficiency, will not be allowed to take place this week.
The Sakeliga KragDag 2020 open air expo was supposed to have been hosted from 3 to 5 December.
However, due to an interpretation of Covid regulations, the expo will be postponed to the first quarter of 2021.
This decision was taken by the Tshwane joint operations committee based on requirements in respect of disaster management, according to metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba.
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“Factors such as road closure, site inspection, the number of people attending an event and accompanying risks have been taken into consideration,” he said.
Bokaba said level 1 lockdown regulations stipulated that no more than 500 spectators can be accommodated at an open air event.
“The number of people attending the expo was the main issue. After carefully considering all relevant factors, the joint operations centre found that it cannot issue a compliance certificate.”
However, organisers of the event were not satisfied with the decision, saying the committee had “not applied its mind”.
According to KragDag CEO HP Steyn, it boiled down to different interpretations of the regulations.
He said the decision was made despite the organiser’s undertaking to host the expo in compliance with lockdown regulations.
“The expo would have been divided into nine different open air spaces, spread over the six hectares premises. Visitors in these areas would have been restricted to less than the maximum number allowed by lockdown regulations.
“In addition, there would have been medical teams for access control and testing for Covid-19,” Steyn said.
“The result would have been an expo analogous to an open-air shopping mall, but with much more access control, hygiene and space.”
“More than 450 exhibitors would have taken part in the expo, which attracted 21 000 visitors last year.”
Steyn said the committee erroneously viewed the expo as a single event with more than 500 participants.
“Sakeliga CEO Piet le Roux suggested to provide the committee with a legal opinion regarding the regulation to ensure the correct application. This offer was not accepted.”
“A gathering as contemplated in the regulations does not equate to an event since the regulation states gatherings at events. Thus, a distinction is made between the two terms,” Steyn said.
“One criterion for maximum occupancy that must be met is the limit of 500 for every gathering at an open air event, not for the event as a whole. Nowhere is a criterion stipulating 500 people at an open air event as maximum for a venue.
“It is still unclear to us how the Covid virus seems to target big events that happen only once a year, while it mostly avoids the many weekly markets and shopping malls that are visited by similar numbers of people.”
He said in the midst of people’s cry in economic distress, it was disappointing and a pity that the local municipality did not follow the more rational approach to enable the residents within its jurisdiction to survive, “while the regulations leave room for such an approach and we have done more than the necessary to mitigate risk”.
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