THIS weekend’s massive International Music festival at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium hangs in the balance as its organisers scramble to secure more funding.

Dompas Media Productions maintains that the show is going ahead despite financial challenges.

This was revealed at a press conference yesterday amid speculation that the event would be cancelled following the fiasco when American star Busta Rhymes failed to perform at the stadium due to poor crowd turnout.

A further blow was that Keri Hilson – one of the main attractions – expressed doubts over her visit to Port Elizabeth.

“As of right now my trip to Africa's up in the air!” the R&B star wrote on her Twitter page.

“Unforeseen circumstances, not on team Keri's end. WE were SO ready!! TBA (to be announced).”

Yesterday, Dompas Media chief executive Wandile Yani said the Sport, Arts and Culture Department was being asked to “chip in with extra funding”.

“We acknowledge that we are faced with many challenges – mostly financial. But this is not going to stop the event because we still need to see how far the national Sports Department can assist,” Yani said.

He said the biggest challenge was paying for flights to bring in artists, especially those coming from abroad, such as Hilson.

Yani refused to reveal how many tickets had been sold, saying this was not a problem, as some local companies had committed to buying tickets in bulk for their staff.

Yani had previously maintained that the promoters had an overall budget of R15-million, including R2-million from the Mandela Bay Municipality.

It was also revealed that Eastern Cape Tourism and the Economic Development and Environmental Affairs Department had each donated R250000 towards the event.

Tickets are selling at R200.

At this price, the company would have to sell 61000 tickets to make up the R12,5-million shortfall on its budget.

Yani dismissed reports that the event was likely to flop, saying his company should not be pre-judged based on the failure of the Busta Rhymes show.

Municipal sport, recreation, arts and culture portfolio chairman Maria Hermaans said Dompas had presented a proposal for the event last year.

The committee had, after due consideration, decided to sponsor the event.

“We have been liaising with Dompas Media and have raised concerns.

“We were always reassured that all systems were on track, and we have no reason to doubt the bona fides of this response,” she said.

However, Dompas this week requested further funding, which was turned down by the council.

Hermaans said the municipality had signed a contract with Dompas Events, under which, should the event fail, ratepayers’ money would be recovered.