In the third year of the All White Gospel Picnic at Carnival City Lawns, gospel lovers quickly populated the green.
Dressed in all white, the audience was ready to be ministered to by their favourite artists, as promised.
They expected a line-up with 15 of South Africa’s heavyweight gospel artists.
Among them were the likes of Kholeka Dubula, Benjamin Dube and Dr Tumi.
But the show did not go exactly as planned.
Attendees say that not even halfway through the show, before 4pm, the sound was cut off.

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It was not clear at that point what the problem was.
But there was murmuring among the service providers, mainly artists and musicians, that they had not been paid.
Some musicians could be seen walking off stage and away from the premises with their musical instruments.
Last month, organiser Thulani Sicongwana said: “We are excited to be back for the third year, we plan to pull out all the stops to bring audiences a day like no other, with the help of our sponsors City of Ekurhuleni, Standard Bank and Coca-Cola.”

After more than two hours with no act on stage, it seemed that the show would go on.
There was an artist on stage.
But that did not last long.
This time the sound and the stage lights went off.
And that marked the end of the show.
A detailed media inquiry was sent to Sicongwana, directly questioning if he had paid the artists, musicians and other service providers.

He was also asked how much he had received from the sponsors.
To which he replied:
”The All White Gospel Picnic would like to sincerely apologise for not adhering fully to what was advertised prior to the event taking place. The organisers take full responsibility for what transpired at the event.”
He said because of bad weather the previous day (November 1), suppliers were unable to set up, which delayed the timeline for the set-up.
He also claims that one of the sponsors, he does not specify which one, pulled out, which resulted in financial pressure.

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“After much deliberation a decision with all parties (suppliers and sponsors) was made to go ahead with the event in efforts not to let down festival supporters.
“However, on the day some suppliers broke the agreement which led to key event deliverables failing and the event not going ahead as planned.
“The All White Gospel Picnic team was unable to communicate to our guests and audiences on the day due to the technical challenges which were beyond our control,” adds Sicongwana.
He went on to thank the lovers of the All White Gospel Picnic who have shown loyalty throughout the past years when this event has been held.
“After reflecting on the event and its challenges, The All White Gospel Picnic, partners and sponsors have considered refunding all valid ticket holders who attended the event, through the various ticket outlets,” he adds.

The Metro has confirmed that Sicongana, and the All White Gospel Picnic 2019, received a grant for R1.4 million.

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