New partner increases community stakes at Soweto Festival

ALP founder and managing director, Adele Lucas with President of the newly re-formed Soweto Chamber of Commerce, Nancy Nxumalo.

Adele Lucas, founder and managing director of ALP, says, “We have had dealings with Soweto business since the early 1980s, when we staged the first Soweto Homemakers Festival in partnership with the Soweto Chamber of Commerce.

“When the City approached ALP in 2004 to revive the festival in a modern guise, it rose to the challenge and now the festival is an established brand, attracting over 47 000 visitors in 2008.”

In 2008, [then] Mayor Amos Masondo announced the formation of the GSBF, an umbrella organisation that made it possible for organisers to enter discussions with a single body. Earlier this year, Nancy Nxumalo, president of the newly re-formed Soweto Chamber of Commerce, was elected chairperson of the GSBF and led the negotiations with ALP to form the partnership.

“It was tricky at times, for both parties had to acknowledge the contribution each had made to make the festival what it is today. ALP has done a fantastic job building the event into a huge success but without the participation and endorsement of the Soweto community, this would not have been possible. So our partnership is now a win-win for both of us,” states Nxumalo

The partnership sees the GSBF taking a 49% stake in the festival and joining the festival's management team. A sub-committee, with ALP and GSBF taking joint responsibility for delivery, runs each of the festival's key operational aspects. Rehaad James, a director at ALP, says the new arrangement has led to a more participatory approach to managing the event, with as many as possible of the services being sourced from Soweto suppliers.

“This partnership is an excellent example of how business, community and government can work in harmony to achieve a higher goal. The City is the Festival's main sponsor but we have broad corporate involvement as well as huge media support, so it was important to secure the long term future of the Festival by making it more inclusive of the beneficiary community - the people of Soweto,” concludes Lucas.

The festival, now in its fifth year, will be held at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto Campus from 24-27 September.

For more information, visit: www.sowetofestival.co.za