Johannesburg Carnival fizzles out

04 January 2010 - 02:00

By Patience Bambalele

NO GLAMOUR: Participants in the Joburg Carnival that took place last week Thursday. The event lacked fun and excitement and even failed to attract more participants. PHOTO: VELI NHLAPO Children 't rafficked' as miners Vusi Ndlovu COSATU president Sdumo Dlamini, said yesterday the union federation would waste no time in rolling out this year's programmes to consolidate its support base. Dlamini said meetings had been scheduled with the ANC, Cosatu and the SACP alliance to start talking about a national economic policy that they hoped would replace the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) p o l i cy. "As from February we will be addressing challenges relating to the economic policy," Dlamini said. "We need to shift from Gear to a more worker-friendly economic policy which is geared to benefit those who produce and work." He said there would be campaigns for political education at shop-floor level aimed at explaining the union's ideology in a way that workers can easily underst and. "A lot of people entering the job market were very young when we voted for the first time in 1994," he said. "Workers were highly politicised then. The workers of t o d ay have just graduated from universities and do not even understand why they should join unions when they are employed. "The only time it matters to them is when they get in trouble. "We do not need to wait for them to get into that situation." Dlamini said they would engage in vigorous campaigns to increase their membership. "Our target is to reach four million members by 2015, from the present two million. "This has been a target from 2003 and has been difficult to achieve. "With more effort and hard work we hope we will reach it." Dlamini said that these programmes were resolutions taken at Cosatu 's 10th national congress that was held last year. Cosatu spells out its vision for the new year RESOLUTE: Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini TRAGEDY: Speed has been reported as a major contributory factor to these crashes. Pic: Veli Nhlapo. 02/01/2010. © Sowetan. 20100102VNH. The sixth year running of Joburg Carnival unite the city's residents for a safe, vibrant and fun-filled street parade and party on 31 December 2009. Woza Africa 2010 this New Year's Eve, when the Joburg Carnival goes soccer-crazy in anticipation of World Cup.PHOTO:VELI NHLAPO.

BILLED as curtain-raiser for the new year's entertainment, the yearly Joburg Carnival on Thursday failed to live up to expectations.

Happening for the sixth time in Johannesburg the event was regarded as one of the big ones that would usher in 2010 on a high note.

But the carnival lacked excitement, fun, colour and glamour. Above all, it failed to attract more participants this year.

Only a few troupes, bands and floats paraded down on the city streets from Braamfontein to Newtown.

The bash featuring local artists, which usually takes place after the carnival on Mary Fitzgerald Square, Newtown, was not staged because of a lack of funds.

With this year's theme being Woza Africa 2010, participants showcased their passion for soccer in Africa with their costumes. The creations of the carnival were inspired by the colours of countries such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria and South Africa, which will be part of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Some of the groups that took part looked unprepared and clueless about their routines.

Though the carnival was boring, councillor Mzwandile Tyobeka of ward 63 said police statistics had shown that the carnival had helped reduce crime levels and disturbances in the inner city over the New Year's Eve period.

Tyobeka told Sowetan just before kickoff: "We use the carnival to unite city residents. Six years ago we got tired of these things and sat down with the police."