Two children killed, one raped during caravan park mayhem

VANDERBIJLPARK. – Two boys between the ages of 16-18 were stabbed to death after a fight broke out between two groups and a 15-year-old girl was raped while some were left with multiple injuries at Emfuleni caravan park in Vanderbijlpark on Saturday.
The Tropika Vaal Beach Party Experience Festival that was supposed to be hosted at Dickson Park as part of the Vaal River Carnival was cancelled due to the bad weather and that is when, it is said, a group of children as young as 14 years, decided to drive further to host their own bash at the caravan park. Much to their ‘delight’ they were met by a cashier at the gate. There were apparently no age restrictions as the cashier collected entrance fees, giving receipts to only a few.
Most tickets that were seen by Sedibeng Ster did not have amounts and mini bus taxis full of young people only paid for one single ticket to enter the park. It is also alleged that the cashier collected money from groups but let them in without issuing tickets and this resulted in a stampede. Emfuleni Local Municipality MMC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Library Information Services, Parks and Cemeteries, Shaka Radebe, apparently also arrived at the scene and instructed the cashier to close the gate and beef up the security. The situation had by then already gone out of control. This after most of the youth were seen jumping the fence and using illegal entries. Radebe said he is having a meeting with all the relevant departments responsible and will issue a full report regarding the stampede. Vanderbijpark Police spokesperson Gertrude Makhale confirms the deaths and rape. No arrest has been made and Makhale urged people who witnessed the incident to contact Constable Ndlovu at (016) 910-9057. Meanwhile ANC Sedibeng through its spokesperson Themba Ndaba condemned the incident: “We have noted with the greatest concern the killings that took place at the Emfuleni caravan park over the weekend, and a rape of a young girl at the same venue. We are calling on all organisers and stakeholders who may be involved in any public event to ensure that the required public safety standards are always adhered to accordingly.“We call upon the law enforcement to speedily bring all the perpetrators to book and members of the public to assist with any kind of information that will lead to their arrests.” lazarus.dithagiso@media24.com