City of Cape Town Clarifies Court Ruling; Reaffirms Support for Minstrel Events Ahead of Tweede Nuwe Jaar 

Cape Town: The CTMCA initiated court proceedings against the City of Cape Town on December 27, 2025, after their provisional booking request for using the Vygieskraal Stadium for the event was turned down three months earlier. The judgement and order issued have no bearing on Tweede Nuwe Jaar, as the matter before the court related solely to the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association’s internal competitions and the provision of suitable venues to hold such competitions.  

Tweede Nuwe Jaar is managed by the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association, which is a separate organisation.  

The City of Cape Town is disappointed by the judgement handed down in the Western Cape High Court, in the matter involving the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association (CTMCA). 

Reportedly, in September 2025, the City of Cape Town received an application for the provisional booking of Vygieskraal Stadium for the competitions hosted by the CTMCA. 

While the CTMCA’s booking of Vygieskraal Stadium was initially and provisionally approved by the City of Cape Town, it was still subjected to the completion and fulfilment of standard operational, safety, and legislative assessments and requirements. 

Following a comprehensive internal review, the City of Cape Town withdrew the provisional booking a few days later, after identifying significant operational and safety concerns, that included statutory venue risk-grading and event risk-grading limitations. 

The CTMCA failed to submit the mandatory documentation required for the processing of an event permit application for their competitions, despite being informed by the City of Cape Town of these requirements. 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 SAPS has classified minstrel events as medium-risk. So, 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. 

The City of Cape Town is in the process of applying for leave to appeal the court’s order, the city is committed to support the Minstrel culture and rich heritage. It only has two medium-risk compliant venues, namely Athlone and DHL Stadiums.   

Despite the City’s intention to apply for leave to appeal, it is in the process of identifying, with the intention to inform the CTMCA of the availability of these venues and the applicable booking process. Due to existing bookings, these two venues are not available on all the dates requested by the CTMCA and set-out in the court ruling.  

The City, to the best of its ability, will also share available information on alternative, privately owned, medium-risk venues with the CTMCA, for consideration.

City’s position has been and continues to be that it acted lawfully and reasonably in this matter and remains committed to uphold the law and ensure that all events hosted within Cape Town comply with applicable legislation and safety standards, in the interest of public safety and responsible event management. 

It is also regrettable that the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association continues to perpetuate a false narrative that the City of Cape Town does not support minstrel events. 

This is simply untrue. The City has consistently demonstrated its support for these events by working constructively with compliant Minstrel groups that respect due process and comply with legislative and safety requirements. The organisations have been commendable for their responsible approach and continued cooperation. 

Notably, the City remains fully supportive of minstrel traditions and encourages residents and visitors to come out in large numbers to support the various lawful events taking place across the city over multiple weekends.  The City’s support, together with the scheduled dates of the respective events, are outlined below.  

It is important to note that the Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade will take place on Monday, January 05, 2026, a date determined by the organising committee, the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association. The funding allocated to Minstrel events represents the City of Cape Town’s single largest investment in events overall. 

Note the Events to be observed soon!