Makana artists are in the dark about whether they will be preforming at the soccer world cup Public Viewing Area (PVA) in Miki Yili Stadium next month.

Makana Arts Council secretary Luvuyo Phongolo said they are still waiting for a meeting between themselves,the Makana Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and the promoter of the event. He said that the council will conduct auditions for local artists on Wednesday and the names of succesful artists will be given to the promoter their.

Phongolo added that they are not happy with the way things had gone so far because, as the body that represents local artists, they saw a tender in the media before it was communicated to them. "What makes things worse ïs that one of the local artists Michael Mentyisi, who is a qualified sound engineer, applied for the tender," he explained. "The response was that he does not have a bank surety of R1million rand in his [company's] bank account.
The "unfortunate part", said Phongolo, was that Mentyisi has all the sound equipment which was mentioned in the tender advertisement and that for most community events they hire Mentyisi.

Makana Local Organising Committee co-ordinator Jeff Budaza said that he is "in the dark" about the arts performances scheduled to take place at the PVA. He argued that the tendering process for the event's promoter has not yet been finalized.

"After the tendering process has been concluded, a meeting between the promoter and the Makana Arts Council will be held to develop a 25-day long programme," he added.

According to Mathews Nontyi, a local performing artist, the P.V.A is a waste of money. He argues that the event is less than 20 days away but they know nothing about the PVA'sprogramme. "It is an event for only the connected artists and the majority of local artists will be left out of it.

"Many local artists have given up and are now abusing alcohol, because of the lack of support," he said. He added that he is still an artist because of his passion for drama, and  that he is involved in drama development at schools.

The PVA is meant for soccer lovers from all over the Cacadu District. Budaza added that Makana Municipality was allocated only R100 000 for the event. Grahamstown is one of six towns which will be hosting a P.V.A in the Eastern Cape. A PVA is a stadium where people can watch world cup matches on big screens for free while performing artists entertain them between matches.