Otjimukandi Fair cancelled due to negligence

Описание: Otjimukandi Fair cancelled due to negligence

Marthina Mutanga

A PLANNED event in the Capital that was meant to educate and give insight into how Ovaherero weddings are traditionally conducted got out of hand on Saturday after organisers struggled to maintain crowd control, thereby breaking Covid-19 regulations.

As a result, the organisers of the Otjimukandi Fair, which was held at the Unam Khomasdal campus this past weekend, called in law enforcement in an attempt to restore order, but were instead shut down and given a verbal warning.

One of the organisers, Uandengapo Tjirondero, said the mistake on their part was their failure to notify the police about the two-day planned event ahead of time.

Tjirondero added that while the event started off on the right note, attracting only a small crowd under 150 people, as the night grew, more people started arriving.

"The event attract more than 400 people on Saturday and we had to call the police to come control the situation. When the police arrived at the event, however, they noticed that not only was there a mass gathering, but those in attendance were not wearing masks, neither were they socially distancing. As a result, the police decided to stop the entire event for safety reasons,” said Tjirondero.

Tjirondero said they will now go back to the drawing board and start the process of notifying the police this week in the hopes that they can proceed with their event the coming weekend with proper protocol in place.

THE LAST STRETCH: The video illustrates the final ceremony when brides are taken to the groom's homestead.