Ceremonies, concert continue after auditorium repairs

The North-West University (NWU) graduation ceremonies and upcoming events at the Sanlam Auditorium will continue as planned after damage caused by heavy rain forced organisers to postpone events such as the first-year concert. The damage has now been repaired.

Construction workers were installing anchor points for the new roof structure that was erected over the existing 45-year-old roof at the beginning of March (2025). The original design of the roof structure dates to the 1970s and small leaks began to form, said Glenn Cunniff, section head at NWU Arts Potchefstroom. The solution was a new structure over the existing one to ensure better water drainage.

Before the new roof could be erected, heavy rain caused damage to the wooden floorboards of the stage, lights and other equipment, carpets and chairs, causing the annual first-year concert to be postponed, Eugene van der Merwe said earlier. He is the arts and culture officer of the Potchefstroom Student Campus Council (SCC). The concert, a popular event on the campus calendar, will now take place on 9 May.

The organisers of the concert, initially planned for 7 March, considered cancelling the concert at first, or hosting it elsewhere. “But nothing would make it as extravagant and we don’t want all the effort that the HC [house committee] members put into the concert go to waste,” Van der Merwe said.

Precious Seapose, who oversaw the repair project, said at the time it would be difficult to get all the work done because the construction company was hired to repair damages to the auditorium, and to work on the new art gallery of the NWU simultaneously. The deadline for work on the art gallery was 6 March, and the auditorium, 7 March. In addition, the weather was unpredictable.  

Cunniff said, “The project is now completed, and no further leaks have been seen in the auditorium. No permanent damage, and the necessary repairs were already done while the project was still in process.”