Acting executive mayor of Tshwane, Abel Tau believes the annual Free New Year’s Music Concert has boosted the city’s economy and tourism. In 2018, the city could not host the annual celebration after the appointed service provider pulled out at the 11th hour, but this time around, revellers were treated to a dazzling fireworks display and good music to welcome the New Year.
About 10 000 music lovers converged on Church Square in the Pretoria CBD for the New Year’s Countdown Music Concert. For some, it was time to look back at what worked and what didn’t work for them in 2019.
Despite the past successes and disappointments for some, they’re now looking forward to a new year with plenty job opportunities.
“2019 for me was very bad. A lot of things happened; tax hiked and our brothers and sisters could not buy cars and houses.”
The city budgeted about R3.5 million to make sure that the annual event goes ahead without any glitches. Tau says the event brought with it some economic spin-offs for the capital.
“This works well with our strategy to boost our tourism and informal traders and ensure that there’s economic activity in the capital. The benefit to the informal traders, the benefit that is there to the taxi industry in making sure that it ferries people to and from and also the feel good factors that ensures people can go out in the capital, do business and go do work, and go to school. This is what we are about.”
Revellers were spoilt for choice musically with the likes of Alton Miller from the USA, Ricky Rick, Thabsie, Mos D, Nokwazi. Budding local artists also took to the stage.
