Stampede victims continue to be treated with contempt
The manner in which the probe into the FNB Stadium stampede last year – where two people died – has been handled thus far, shows precisely how worthless the life of a football fan is considered in this country.
Last Friday, we heard the sports ministry had cancelled a hearing into the matter, which had been established to find out why and how Prince Chauke and Johannes Nkosi were trampled to death as fans forced open the stadium gates during the Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs Carling Cup derby.
The families had heard little about this case since perhaps days before and after the funerals, when representatives of the Soweto giants made a donation of about R50 000 each towards funeral costs.
But they had been made to believe this matter would be handled with the seriousness it deserves.
A day after the July 29 incident, club owners Irvin Khoza and Kaizer Motaung held a joint televised press conference wherein they pledged to get to the bottom of the case. Questions were barred in the said press conference as they presumably did not want to say anything that would jeopardise a full-on investigation.
It was later announced that advocate Vincent Maleka would head the investigation into the matter, with the promise that “the league, affected clubs, service providers, sponsors, supporters, the SA Police Service and all other role players” would provide “all possible assistance to enable advocate Maleka in performing his task”.
Days and weeks passed by as Maleka waited to be briefed. We were then told he would no longer hear the case, as it had been superseded by the ministerial inquiry appointed by then minister Thulas Nxesi.
That committee was supposed to sit this month, but as we reported, it faced an interdict from Stadium Management SA, who are responsible for events at FNB Stadium.
New Sports Minister Tokozile Xasa has now cancelled the hearing.
“We felt it was right to withdraw the inquiry as we were not getting cooperation at all,” said sports ministry spokesman Mickey Modisane.
This, however, should not mean the matter won’t be probed.
“We are looking at a sterner way to ensure those who must testify do so,” Modisane added, intimating a full judicial commission, with the power to subpoena those who are now not cooperating, might be the next step.
But why should it come to this, where people are forced to appear before a commission to establish the truth?
The argument that there is already a police case on the matter is moot. The reality is we are again faced with a serious incident in football that requires public scrutiny, yet it’s taking a long time to find closure.
It has been eight months since the incident and the goalposts have shifted more than three times. Yet the PSL statement released on August 1, three days after the tragedy, said it “will ensure the matter is dealt with expeditiously and properly”. It has been anything but.