GAY & LESBIAN PRIDE NEWS
Company looks to stop Gay Festival
Shanthini Naidoo / Sunday Times | September 12, 2004
JOHANNESBURG — The organizers of the Joburg Gay Pride Festival are in hot water for allegedly not paying their bills.
A marquee-hire company is seeking a court interdict to stop the festival, which gets underway on Saturday, from going ahead unless it is paid.
It is one of three companies claiming they are owed about R50 000 in total for facilities and equipment hire to the festival in previous years.
The retort from the organizers is that the companies are trying to sabotage the event, one of the largest on the South African gay-lesbian calendar.
Director of Queens Hiring Moosa Daya, said organizer Gary Bath had evaded him for months and had still not settled his bills a week before this year's festival.
His company had last year supplied marquees, tables and chairs and was to have been paid the R20 000 fee on delivery.
"He [Bath] said that they transferred the funds into my account but I discovered afterwards only half was paid.
"We're getting a court interdict to stop the festival on the basis that the previous debt has not been settled. They can't be operating in this manner - they are giving all gay people a bad name," said Daya.
Last year the festival was organized by Pride Communications which was run by bath. This year it is being run by the Joburg Pride Foundation, but Bath is still an organizer.
A spokesperson for Bath and the foundation, Sean Lucas, declined to comment on the allegations, but said that he still believed the complaining companies were trying to "disrupt the event". "If Pride Communications incurred any debt, why would Queens and Rent-a-Loo take so long in coming forward?" he said in a statement.
David Naidoo of M&M Hiring said R34 000 was due to him for laying temporary carpets at a venue in 2002.
In the interests of exposing fraudulent activity within the LGBT community, should you have any information regarding unscrupulous bussiness dealings e-mail us at editor@gmax.co.za.
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