#FillUpGiyaniStadium: “It was then that all hell broke loose”
“It was chaos. And let me tell you now, the security who were appointed to do their job were definitely not trained to handle such a situation...”
The Greater Giyani Municipality said that they strongly condemn the social media trends that more than one person died in Giyani during the #FillUpGiyaniStadium festival on Saturday September 1.
According to a reliable source, one of the people who was killed at the festival is a resident from Majeje, outside Phalaborwa.
The police have not confirmed nor denied this but only confirmed the death of one person, a 19-year-old from Mavalana village in Giyani.
Initial reports on social media suggested that a stampede resulted into chaos and that about 12 people lost their lives due to this so called ‘stampede.’
This rumour has been denied in the meantime by certain role players, but eyewitnesses suggested otherwise.
According to the HERALD’s information from reliable sources, the deceased was identified as Bishop Mthabini, but the police could not confirm this.
An eyewitness, also a friend of the deceased, at the scene said that she saw everything as it occurred as they were leaving the stadium.
“I saw it with my own eyes when some guys beat him up, he didn’t do anything wrong as he was just passing near the gate where a fight was taking place and the people who were fighting thought he was part of it and decided to attack him as well,” said the eyewitness.
Allegations on social media stated that about 12 people died during the festival, but the police denied the reports.
The person who was declared dead on the pitch was allegedly stabbed with a sharp object by an unknown suspect.
Another source told the HERALD: “The guy died on the pitch. I saw it with my own eyes.An ambulance entered and paramedics tried to resuscitate him. I saw how they put a blanket over him. They’ve carried him to one side and barricaded the area around him. Benny Mayengani’s performance carried on. It was only about 45 minutes later that the pathology services entered the pitch and took the deceased away.”
According to him, it was then that “all hell broke loose”.
“There were two barriers in front of the stage. The crowd just pushed forward and trampled both of the barriers to get closer to the stage. Fights broke out. I can’t tell you how many fights I saw, I lost count.”
Benny Mayengani on stage during the festival:
Well done @BennyMayengani for #FillUpGiyaniStadium. We proud. pic.twitter.com/sQaq1wP1an
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) September 2, 2018
He further stated that he never saw so many cooler boxes and beer bottles and cans flying through the air.
“It was chaos. And let me tell you now, the security who were appointed to do their job were definitely not trained to handle such a situation,” he said.
According to @giyaniview’s Twitter page counterfeit tickets with an estimated value of R250k were found at the Giyani stadium. Five suspects were allegedly held by security officials for fraudulently selling the counterfeit tickets.
Counterfeit ticket with an estimated value of R250k found at Giyani stadium
5 held by security official for fraudulently selling counter tickets.
This is a developing story#FillUpGiyaniStadium#fugs pic.twitter.com/WR7xTICr4g
— Giyani View (@giyaniview) September 1, 2018
However, the Greater Giyani Municipality said that they strongly condemned the social media trends that more than one person died in Giyani during the festival and believe that it is a smear campaign against the success of Giyani and the festival.
Meanwhile some friends of Bishop Mthabini confirmed to the HERALD that Bishop was killed at the stadium and also mentioned that it was not during the ‘stampede’ but only after when they were leaving the stadium.
