Students want their money back after RAG rain disruption

Many students were upset after disruptive weather caused the cancellation of the RAG event. They feel they should have received some form of reimbursement for their purchased tickets.

On Thursday 30 January students lined up to attend the first night at RAG, which had much to offer, with musical talents such as Francois van Coke, Karen Zoid and even internationally acclaimed artists Prime Circle, but in the end students were left wet, scared and a few were injured.

As the storm progressed the long awaited festivity quickly turned into a nightmare when several structures, including the famous beer tent, collapsed on students.

According to Zane Botha, the RAG Chairperson, nine students were injured and five of those were in the beer tent when it collapsed.

The lingering question is whether or not the students will receive a refund for their ticket fees. Botha stated that the terms and conditions of Howler indicate that if an event had already begun and had to be cancelled due to any external factors, no refunds would be provided.

In an attempt to resolve the issue partially, the RAG committee provided at least 700 people, who purchased tickets for Thursday’s show but never had the opportunity to attend, a free ticket for the following night’s performances. 

“Due to the financial implications that would arise, we could not reschedule the performances. Each artist had already booked other shows and it would be unnecessarily costly to book them again,” Botha said.

She further explained that what makes Potchefstroom’s RAG event unique is the float parade where each hostel has the opportunity to boast with the structures they made during the R&I period.

She added that in terms of the floats, most of the structures survived the incident and were lucky enough not to receive any serious damages. 

Louis Jacobs, the NWU Director of Corporate Communications, said that due to the nature of the incident certain conditions were implemented by the SAPS Potchefstroom to verify the structural integrity of many of the constructions on the grounds.

These structural investigations were verified early on Friday morning and were followed by an orchestrated load shedding period, which resulted in the event ending at 23:00.

The outcomes of Thursday’s weather and the load shedding on Friday evening had dismal circumstances for the universities’ residence SJGD projects.

The RAG music festival is seen as the bread and butter for the SJGD projects and serves as the key fundraiser for future charitable events, which may have impacted the overall budget.