With record petrol prices, rising interest rates and other costs through the roof, most families are feeling the squeeze. But one big party is still going ahead at full throttle: Rage. Whether that means tapping Ouma or Oupa or paying it off in instalments.
Tickets range from a limited three-day access to the Sound Factory festival hub for R1,900 to a full-VIP Diamond Passport package for R12,500, with bottle service, dedicated transport, express queuing and private toilets.
Add accommodation, travel arrangements, personal spending, transport and how much is spent on food and drinks and that bill can easily surpass R20,000 for the week.
“There was huge peer pressure for my child to go and peer pressure among the parents even, so we made a plan,” one parent tells the FM, preferring anonymity.
So far, about 3,000 tickets, called passports, have been sold for Plett Rage compared with 2,700 this time last year. Organisers say about 4,000 young people end up in Plett, while about 5,000 go to Ballito.
To make it easier, organisers have since 2017 arranged interest-free instalment options with partners such as Payflex, ZeroPay and LayUp.
“We know that Rage is a big expense for families,” says Goosebumps Company and Ballito Rage owner and CEO Greg Walsh. “For us, it’s really about making sure that more matriculants have the opportunity to celebrate the end of school.”
Plett Rage CEO and owner Ronen Klugman says the festival is aimed at affluent families, with many of the matriculants coming from private schools. “But then we also see matriculants from middle-class families who have saved up for the event with granny and family chipping in towards the cost.”
A survey Klugman shared from last year puts average daily spending at R150 for transport, R500 on food and drinks at local restaurants, R800 on accommodation and R300 on groceries, toiletries, clothing and accessories. Alcohol adds between R280 and R600 a day.
That comes as a boon to businesses. Festival organisers estimate about R60m will be injected into the KwaZulu-Natal north coast economy through accommodation, food and beverages, transport, and shopping. Plett is expected to experience a windfall of about R40m into its local economy from attendees.
Pubs in Plett such as Flashbacks and Zanzibar say this time of the year is a windfall, just before the Christmas season. They are open into the wee hours of the morning.
Andrew Low, manager at Moby’s on the beach in Plett, says business benefits hugely. “We open at 9am and close at 6pm and we are packed. We hire doormen because at some times of the day we are full and there is a queue.”
He says behaviour is “not too bad. Sometimes we need to call a cab for those who drink too much, but on the whole, they are just having a good time.”
Kendell Murfin, manager of Hops Restaurant & Bar in Ballito, says they don’t allow Rage customers to come in at night anymore. “In the past they have got unruly and chased my existing customers away.”
“It’s the moment you’ve been waiting your whole life for,” scream the event’s social media pages. “For eight unforgettable days, night blurs into morning, strangers turn into friends.”
A resident on Main Road near Plett’s bars and restaurants says: “I can hear loud laughing and voices into the early hours of the morning.”
When it comes to safety, both events commit to a zero-drug policy and inebriation is not encouraged.
There are the Red Frogs who keep an eye on students, feed them pancakes if they are inebriated, and help them find lost friends.
This year Ballito Rage adds padel tournaments, beach volleyball and other outdoor games. The nightlife remains the highlight, with performances all week at the Sound Factory near Ballito.
In Plettenberg Bay, Rage takes place between Coco Valley at Cairnbrogie Farm and Bikini Beach on Central Beach from November 27 until December 3. The line-up of entertainment here includes more than 40 SA artists alongside international artists.
On a Rage Facebook page someone who attended last year says: “It was a long 13-hour road trip from Gauteng to Ballito, but absolutely worth it. That first night party is wild.”
There’s more than just bills to contend with once the party dies. “My son wasn’t the only one who overdid the party and came home sick after three days,” says another mom who asked not to be identified. “Rage flu is what parents call this.”
