Police to tackle spectator hooliganism at grassroots level
SAPS will over and above enforcing the Safety at Sports & Recreational Events Act (SASREA), also look at raising awareness through educational campaigns.
POLICE Deputy Minister Bongani Mkongi says the growing incidents of hooliganism at sports events, particularly soccer games, is a matter of national security that also needs to be addressed at grassroots level.
The Deputy Minister said this when the South African Police Service (SAPS), National Soccer League and the Department of Sports and Recreation appeared before a joint meeting of the Portfolio Committees on Sports and Recreation and Police on Tuesday to give a briefing on the events that led to violent scenes at the recent Nedbank Cup semi-final at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
“The question of growing hooliganism in South Africa in terms of soccer and other sporting codes is a national security threat [and] if we leave it at this point, it can grow [and become a problem like it has] in… other countries. That is our standpoint in terms of national security,” Mkongi said.
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He said the SAPS would, over and above enforcing the Safety at Sports & Recreational Events Act (SASREA), also look at raising awareness through educational campaigns.
This, Mkongi said, will include rolling out school safety campaigns as hooliganism can be traced back to school sports grounds.
The briefing comes after a cup tie that saw Kaizer Chiefs being knocked out of the semi-finals by Free State Stars, resulting in unhappy fans, who had been calling for coach Steve Komphela to resign. The fans invaded the pitch and attacked security personnel and vandalised property.
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