Buskers to be swept onto mat

The city of Cape Town has placed buskers on a leash by launching a pilot project that seeks to regulate where they can perform.

Ten spaces - each with a City of Cape Town-branded performance "mat" - have been made available by the municipality for street performers.

According to Garreth Bloor, the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development, the project actually assists buskers.

"The Public Art Management Framework provides opportunities for a range of public art - from street art, to bronze sculptures, to performance. It is the result of extensive engagement with the arts sector and is aimed at providing clear standard operating procedures to deal with public art within the city," he said.

Two years ago, police forcibly removed blind busker Lunga Goodman Nono from Greenmarket Square and smashed his guitar.

Last year, Nono was awarded R300000 in damages.

The project will not affect buskers at the V&A Waterfront as they are regulated by the shopping mall's management.

But other buskers must apply to the City to use the newly demarcated spots at St Georges Mall, Thibault Square and the Company's Garden - and undergo a screening process.

Bloor said there will be "one busker or group per performance mat" and no group may be larger than four people.

Bloor said a service provider has been hired to manage, monitor and evaluate the project in consultation with the City's arts and culture department.

The pilot project will run until March 31, after which its success, or failure, will be appraised.