[imagesource: Pixabay]

While a big portion of the world was cancelling flights in and out of South Africa due to the new COVID-19 strain, Omicron, Ballito Rage 2021 was still set to rage on Tuesday.

Even after Ballito Rage 2020 turned into a super-spreader event, and organisers of Plett Rage cancelled the 2020 event, this year’s festival was standing steadfast and determined to go ahead.

Granted, the rules, regulations, and COVID-19 protocols for joining this year’s biggest matric jol on the coast were really stringent.

I tried really hard not to say unprecedented there, but it would have been more apt.

Conditions for the festival included mandatory vaccinations for all staff and guests, as well as pre-arrival COVID-19 tests for all guests.

The event kicked off yesterday with a testing facility nearby, which began conducting testing on staff on Monday.

Of the first 122 staff tested, nobody came back positive.

But yesterday’s testing yielded different results.

IOL has more:

“Between 2pm and 10pm, 940 guests and staff were tested and 32 guests and four staff presented positive results. The Department of Health was on site and worked together with our team to conduct contact tracing and ensure isolation of positive individuals and staff as per government protocols.

That was enough to cancel the remainder of the event, which organisers confirmed today via the event’s website:

We take the safety of all our customers, staff, and suppliers extremely seriously. It is for this reason that the event organisers have taken the decision to cancel the remainder of Ballito Rage…

After further exhaustive review this morning (Wednesday 1 December 2021), consultation and guidance from the local and provincial Departments of Health and other key stakeholders, the decision was collectively made to cancel the event going forward based on the data now available to us.

It is our responsibility to act based on facts, collaboration and the resources and tools we have available.

Whilst we understand the disappointment that this causes for those who were looking forward to enjoying the festival, these are unprecedented times. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and support. Ticket holders will receive further information in the coming days via email.

There it is – “unprecedented times”.

It appears as though Plett Rage is still slated to go ahead, so we may still see what happens when a large group of teenagers come together with copious amounts of alcohol.

All in all, you can’t help but feel sorry for the students.

[sources:iol&ballitorage]