KZN Health MEC welcomes cancellation of Ballito Rage Festival

01 December 2021

KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Ms Nomagugu Simelane has welcomed the cancellation of the Ballito Rage 2021 Festival, saying that no potential super-spreader event that could lead to the overwhelming of the Province's healthcare system should be allowed to go ahead.

The festival started yesterday and was to have continued until 5 December 2021.

Reacting to an announcement earlier today, to cancel the event, MEC Simelane said: “From October, we have been working with the organisers to find the best way to manage this event. But because we could not close it down ourselves at the time, we agreed that we’d manage the numbers according to the regulations. We agreed that within that process, there will be certain protocols that are in place, such as that the participants would have to produce a vaccination certificate proving they’re negative. They would get screened and tested on site. Yesterday morning, 10 tested positive out of about 50.

"We then went back to the organisers and decided to relook at the plan. When we tested more participants during the day, the number exceeded 35. That's when we realised that we needed to engage with the organisers about the need to close down this event.

"We are thankful for their co-operation. When we spoke to them about the fact that they could not continue, they agreed with us."

MEC Simelane added that the virus was easily transmissible, which means that any close proximity between those who are infected, with other people, could create a potential super-spreader event. She urged all other big event organizers to consider postponing their events.

"But those who are continuing… we'll be close by to monitor that they adhere to the safety precautions. If we find that there’s a similar challenge, we will recommend that such gathering should not go ahead. Failure to do that will result in us being confronted by a situation of mass infections in the same way that it happened in December 2020 and earlier this year, and that is something we cannot afford."

ENDS Issued by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health