Dear Semi-Finalist

After lengthy deliberation and discussions with parties involved, the organizers have decided that this competition must be cancelled in total due to the huge losses we have suffered due to Covid-19 with further special reference to the following: The sponsors withdrew their sponsorships in total on the grounds of force majeure clauses in the agreements. This is understandable due to the losses suffered and the economic impact on the sponsors due to the pandemic.

In the competition rules (which all entrants agreed to by entering) it clearly states that:

The organizers of the competition is not responsible for any failure to perform its obligations under this agreement, if it is prevented or delayed in performing those obligations, or in any way impacted (at any stage) to fulfil its obligations under this agreement by an event of force majeure such as, but not limited to, an act of God such as, but not limited to, fires, explosions, earthquakes, drought, tidal waves, floods, pandemics; accident, riots, war, terrorist act, epidemic, pandemic, quarantine, civil commotion, natural catastrophes, governmental acts or omissions, changes in laws or regulations.

Based on the above-mentioned, the organizers have the right to cancel the competition without reimbursing any entrant. Covid-19 had a detrimental effect on the music industry (and economy at large). This is from a juridical point of view.

From an ethical point of view, we have decided to refund all semi-finalists the ZAR200,00 entry fee (per person). Although we are under no obligation to do this, and despite the huge costs of hosting these live events across South Africa and Namibia, which will never be recovered, we feel that it is the correct way to conduct business. Financially, nor juridically this makes any sense, but ethically, it does. Furthermore, all entrants received backing tracks worth over ZAR 2000,00 (free of charge) when they’ve entered the competition.

Thus, if you were a confirmed semi-finalist (whom participated in Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Windhoek or Walvis Bay), you can complete the below-mentioned contact form. Note: Only those who received an official e-mail in which you were notified that you are a semi-finalist, can apply for a refund of ZAR200,00 entry fee per person. Quarter finalists who didn’t went through to the Semi-Finals cannot apply for a refund seeing that the quarter finalists in any event would not have participated further in the competition and thus had no chance of winning any prices, and received backing tracks worth over ZAR2000.00 (free of charge) and had the chance to perform live.

Note that repayments was made every second month-end, and that the last payments was made on 10 December 2024. This refund-invitation information was available on this website for one year (345 days to be exact), and until the beginning of March 2025 it stated that no payments will be made after these dates, and no correspondence whatsoever regarding this competition will be entered into after this date.

However, after offering this repayment for basically one year the organizers decided to grant registered semi-finalists a grace period. This refund-offering is open till 1 October 2025 at 17h00 (GMT+2), meaning that the Organizers (although not legally obligated to do so) will offer a refund for more than one and a half years to give everyone a chance to apply. All payments will be made only on 1 October 2025 as once-off payments and no payments will be made after this date.

Due to legislative changes on 4 September 2024, between the Reserve Banks of South Africa and Namibia, SWIFT and WesternUnion transactions cannot be done via ABSA BANK LIMITED’s banking platform (as an EFT) to a Namibian bank account (i.e. Bank Windhoek). Therefore, kindly note that all refunds can only be made to a South African bank account. Alternatively, should you be willing to carry the aforementioned charges, Traxtudio will still refund the R200/N$200. Terms and conditions apply. PayPal is the easiest way to receive a refund however and the charges are also much less than a SWIFT transaction. Should you have a PayPal account, please send the following details to us along with the requested documentation as per below: PayPal username, e-mail address (linked to PayPal account) and mobile number.
Semi-finalists who wishes to receive a refund must follow the following easy steps:

1. Print screen the original e-mail with the date and time in which it was confirmed that you were selected as a semi-finalist and save it as an image.
(To print screen: On windows: Use the “Logo Key” + “PrtScn” button; On Mac: Press simultaneously “Shift”, “Command” and “3”)
2. Complete the below-mentioned form.