Fans complain of rampant crime at Beyonce concert in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG: South Africans who attended a concert featuring US pop sensation Beyonce have been phoning talk radio and tweeting about becoming the victims of crime at the star-studded event marking late president Nelson Mandela’s centenary.
In an unfortunate after-note to the widely hyped concert, some attendees told of how they were allegedly robbed at gunpoint.
Police were not available for comment, but Police Minister Bheki Cele tweeted that one “thug” had been arrested and vowed, “I will make sure that we [find] all of them.” His tweet was in response to one Twitter user asking Johanesburg police, “Where were you last night AFTER the #Globalcitizenfestivalsa when people were being mugged and harassed by thugs??”
Users phoning in to popular talk radio station 702 recounted how things had gone awry at the festival — which also saw performances by rapper Jay-z, Ed Sheeran and Pharrell Williams.
“I was actually robbed inside the venue and not outside during the Beyonce and Jay-z set. I tried to hail the security guys but by the time they came to help me, the guys had already disappeared,” one caller, Mukundi, said.
Twitter user @Hunyour also expressed disappointment with the alleged crime at the event in a tweet to the Global Citizen co-organisers: “I’m really disappointed in your guys [sic] complete disregard for our safety after the concert, people were stabbed, robbed on gunpoint and hijacked right outside the stadium. You really let us down as a country.” South Africa is known for its high crime rates, with Cele saying recently that this year’s statistics resembled a war zone.
Cele said on television on Monday that “the concert I attended was wellpoliced .... I’ve never seen people so happy.” The police minister added he had heard of the complaints of rampant crime but urged people to come forward and open cases with the police. So far they had only one case officially reported, he added.
Global Citizen has not responded to dpa’s e-mailed request for comment, and Stadium Management SA — which runs the Johannesburg venue where the event took place — said they would be issuing a press release late in the day.
However, Global Citizen did say on Twitter in the early hours of Monday that “after such an inspiring evening, we are saddened to hear the challenges people had while leaving the venue.” Many South African social media users noted the irony of the violence at the charitable event in Mandela’s name.
Most of those who attended had to earn their tickets — the majority of which were not for sale — by taking action to help end extreme poverty, for example by signing online petitions or participating in community service.