Yes, the question on everyone’s lips is why continue with the match following the reports that two soccer fans have died and multiple injuries suffered by others, considering the match was twenty minutes from kick-off?
We hope the PSL and other stakeholders will give the public the response to the above question and families of the deceased find closure as well.
At the media brief on Monday, both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates bosses Kaizer Motaung and Dr Irvin Khoza (moment of silence was observed) gave their assurances that the investigation- as per the minister of Sport Thulas Nxesi’s order- will reveal the exact cause of the unfortunate incident.
“We just want to say our condolences to affected families. We are so saddened as a nation, as a fans all over South Africa; we are so sad,” both bosses admitted.
Stadium Management SA CE Jacques Grobbelaar, however, blamed the incident on duplicate of tickets.
“While nearly 90000 tickets were sold out two-weeks ago, SMSA confirmed it had been made aware of about 6000 illegal tickets.
“Last Friday we got information that a fan had managed to purchase two tickets, even though they had been sold out,” said SMSA chief executive Jacques Grobbelaar. “We involved the Hawks who arrested two people and seized about 3500 counterfeit tickets. But our suspicion is that there were between 5000 and 6000 tickets in total.”
He also promised to engage with Computicket to find out what led to duplicate of tickets.
In response, Computicket said it would co-operate with any investigation and maintained it applied “numerous safety features on ticket stock to ensure that its outlets print legitimate tickets”.
One of the deceased was 30-year old Chiefs fan Prince Chauke from Mpumalanga, while the identity of the other was still being established.
A female fan was taken off life support at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and is now stable, while several others, including a minor, were released after treatment for mild injuries.
With the MTN8 football season kicking-off next week, it is hoped such bad behavior from fans and lackluster security will be a thing of the past. Didn’t we learn anything from the Ellis Park disaster? PLEASE!
Meanwhile, SAB (Carling Black Label sponsor ) has reportedly assured the families of the deceased it will foot bills for both burials, it said in a statement.
