THE Bluff’s much-anticipated Welcoming of the Whales Festival scheduled to take place on June 21 this year has been cancelled. The decision comes amid budgetary contracts and logistic challenges.

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The festival has long been a staple in Durban’s events calendar – celebrating marine life and drawing thousands of visitors every year. It also provides a platform for local vendors and stall owners to sell their products to the visitors and generate an income.

The Sodurba Community Tourism Organisation (CTO) announced last week that the beloved festival was cancelled due to financial constraints.

Chairperson of Sodurba Helga du Preez said every effort were made to go ahead with the preparations, however, all attempts proved to be fruitless.

“Sodurba CTO did not get the 2024/25 grant funding. Unfortunately, the sponsors we got were not sufficient. After putting our heads together and taking every possible scenario into account, we were unable to find a suitable solution for our 2025 festival,” she said.

However, Sodurba is optimistic that next year the much-awaited festival will kick back.

“We are positive that the funding for 2025/26 will be swiftly reinstated, and with the much-needed sponsors and donations, we will be able to host the 2026 Welcoming of the Whales Festival,” she said.

The cancellation of the festival has left The Bluff residents and vendors disappointed. The Bluff Ratepayers and Residents Association (BRRA) expressed disappointment and concern over the cancellation of the festival.

Audit Report

The recent qualified audit opinion highlighted specific financial discrepancies within Sodurba’s financial statements for June 30, 2024. The organisation received this audit opinion based on the nature of its cash flow collections.

The organisation lost its funding from the regional tourism office after receiving an audit report with a red flag (qualified audit opinion) for the 2023/2024 financial year.

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DNKA, an independent audit and accounting firm, conducted an audit of the organisation’s financial management.

The report however noted that it is not feasible for organisations like Sodurba to implement full accounting controls over cash collections from donations and fundraising activities prior to their initial recording in the accounting system.

“It was impractical to examine beyond the receipts recorded in the accounting system, so we could not verify the completeness of cash collections and issued a qualified opinion. However, we found no adverse findings or material misstatements in Sodurba’s financial records, and the statements are otherwise accurate,” the report stated.

Sodurba Community Tourism Organisation known for hosting the Welcoming of the Whales Festival every year, is now facing public scrutiny following a qualified audit opinion from independent auditors.

According to an email sent to Sodurba by the Durban Tourism office on January 7, which was seen by the SUN, the organisation was found to be in breach of Section 67 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

Under Section 67 of the MFMA, municipalities are prohibited from transferring funds to organisations that are not compliant with financial management and reporting requirements.

In the municipality’s response, the tourism office referenced an admission by Sodurba stating: “Our only ‘mistake’ was conducting a cash raffle during our signature event, worth just a few rands”.

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Spokesperson for eThekwini Municipality Mandla Nsele said, “Unfortunately, be it few or a lot of rands is immaterial because it was never receipted therefore auditors cannot assume that it was few or lot of rands. The money was supposed to be receipted and banked,” said Nsele.

He said organisations are compelled to adhere to section 67 of the MFMA act 56 of 3003 as the CTO funding is granted in compliance with this section.

Nsele explained that during the funding application CTOs must meet the following criteria:

• Submit business plans,
• Sign contracts (MOA) with the municipality at the end of each financial year,
• And submit annual accountability reports in line with their submitted business plans as well as the audited financial report. “Once received the municipality conducts its internal verification before disbursing the funds. The audit report is developed and produced by the CTO-appointed Independent auditors. In summary, the CTO failed to meet MFMA compliance standards, as they received a Qualified Audit Opinion.,” said Nsele.

However, he noted that this was the first time CTO received a qualified opinion; over the years they have been receiving a clean audit report.

“This could have been prevented with a simple receipting of the monies received,” he said.

The municipality and Sodurba are still to engage on this matter. In response to the audit outcome, the Durban Tourism office has proposed in an email sent to Sodurba, that the auditors must formally communicate their commitment to assisting Sodurba.

The tourism office has recommended that the auditors make a formal commitment to supporting Sodurba in strengthening its financial control systems, particularly in the area of cash flow management, to avoid future qualified audit outcomes.

The Welcoming of the Whales Festival held annually on The Bluff, draws thousands of visitors and provides a substantial economic boost to local businesses.

Its cancellation has sparked concern among residents and business owners who rely on the seasonal influx of tourists.

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