Sbu Mjikeliso
THE hooligans involved in the brawl at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium during the Southern Kings game against the Sharks last Saturday – the video of which has gone viral on YouTube – will not face stadium bans.
Access Management, the company in charge of administration and security at the venue, has instead set up an SMS line for fans to blow the whistle on spectator violence before it gets out of hand.
A man wearing Sharks colours at the centre of a brawl involving at least 12 others was caught on cellphone camera going on a two- minute rampage that included kicking, punching and head-butting.
The cause of the altercation on 6the stands remained unclear.
The incident happened during the Kings' 21-12 loss to the Sharks.
The perpetrators will not be tracked down and brought to book, but Access general manager Buli Ngomane says a plan is in place to prevent any future similar occurrences.
"It happens at stadiums everywhere in the world and the usual factors to blame are alcohol consumption, lack of knowledge of the stadium and people fighting over seats.
"The video has gone viral now – we can't ignore it," Ngomane said.
"We have a zero-tolerance stance because we are a family stadium and we won't allow such behaviour.
"We've developed a plan that involves visible policing, an SMS line to report incidents and private [security] companies to patrol the public areas.
"We have been spoilt in our venue because we have had incident-free events."
Ngomane said another altercation had occurred at the stadium at the same time. That one had been quickly handled by law enforcement officers.
However, the one captured on video had not lasted long enough for them to react.
