Durban - With the matric exams finally out of the way, Ballito on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast is hopping.
Matrics wrapped up their exams on Tuesday with the design paper and the annual matric rage festival is now in full swing.
But as thousands of youngsters let their hair down, washing away 12 years of school in a boozy fug, authorities have warned partying pupils to behave - and especially not to drink and drive.
Measures have been put in place to curb underage drinking and help youngsters who get into trouble.
It was party time at Ballito and at the Kings Park Stadium on Tuesday night - all under the matric rage festival umbrella. At the “Rage Village” in Ballito, where hundreds of pupils have descended from across the country, some were seen chilling with ciders and beers or smoking casually at the Regal Inn hotel.
But speaking to the Daily News, a disappointed group who had just arrived in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday night, found out how strict the rage organisers were.
They were sent packing after they failed to produce identity documents at a party being hosted at the Crush Nite Club in Ballito.
Cornel Nel and Gerhardt Siebert, both of Garfontein High School in Pretoria, said they forgot their IDs in their hotel room and were disappointed at being barred entry.
Nel joked that his last exam, Afrikaans paper three, had been a waste of time and said if he had a choice he would have skipped it and come to Ballito sooner.
He said his rage week budget was R12 000, with R3 500 reserved for accommodation.
Russel Ndlovu, of Calibre High School in Bryanston, Johannesburg, said he had arrived at rage on Friday, having finished exams earlier as he wrote IEB exams.
“There’s about 18 of us from my school, my parents didn’t have a problem with me coming because my sister came as well before, and everything was cool,” he said.
Ndlovu said he had attended all the parties since arriving on Friday.
Among the ragers were some university students, like Nirese Vardarajulu, 20, a second year Wits student who had not been allowed to go to rage by her strict parents when she finished matric two years ago.
“My parents had a huge issue with rage, they wouldn’t allow me to go, they probably thought I was going to die,” she said.
Vardarajulu said her mom knew she was at rage, but her dad still had no idea because they lived separately.
Another group of matric ragers, who had travelled from Bloemfontein, said they swam against the tide as most
of their peers went to the rage festival at Plettenberg Bay, in the Western Cape.
The group of four, who go to the Bloem Curro School and Sentraal Bloem High School, said they had budgeted R10 000 each.
Organisers said they expected more than 25 000 pupils at the rage parties in Durban, uMhlanga, Ballito and Plettenberg Bay.
In a bid to stop revellers from drinking and driving, the organisers have introduced rage buses that shuttle the partyheads between hotels and jols, at about R40 a trip.
These come in the form of minibus taxis, with “rage rides” livery clearly visible.
The outer fields of the Kings Park Stadium will host the big parties, while local night clubs in Durban, uMhlanga and Ballito will also host parties.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane encouraged teenagers at year-end school parties to obey the law and behave in public places.
“Within the festive season police plan, there will be additional police on the ground in identified party hotspots,” Zwane said.
Keep a caring eye on the partygoers will be more than 90 volunteers from the non-profit organisation Red Frog.
Paul Rowney, director of Red Frog, said their volunteers would be in the streets outside party venues with the aim of safeguarding youngsters and providing support. The event organisers could not be reached for comment after many calls and SMSes.
The 24 Hour RedFrog Hotline for partygoers is: 060 733 3764.
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Daily News