Operational plan for ill-fated Moses Mabhida clash signed only day after match

The police have admitted that the operational plan for the Kaizer Chiefs versus Free State Stars match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium was only signed the day after the match.

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the police on Tuesday briefed a joint meeting of the portfolio committees on sport and of police on the violence that took place after this Nedbank Cup clash.

READ: PSL bosses to account to MPs on Durban stadium violence

News24 reports that during the meeting, DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard asked if it was correct that the operational plan was only signed the day after the match.

“That we’re not going to deny. It was signed after the match,” responded KwaZulu-Natal acting commissioner Major-General Bheki Langa.

The committee heard that the match had been rated as a medium security threat.

This despite the fact that at the meeting of the legally required event safety and security planning committee on April 17, representatives of Kaizer Chiefs reported that their supporters were dissatisfied with the coach, Steve Komphela.

The meeting also received a threat assessment report from the police’s crime intelligence unit, with a pitch invasion highlighted as one of the risks. And this is exactly what happened after the final whistle sounded, resulting in the violence.

READ: Chiefs set to play Sundowns in inaugural Shell Felix Cup

Meanwhile, Sports Minister Thokozile Xasa said she had asked the Presidency for a judicial inquiry, and that the Presidency had agreed.

“We are not waiting for the outcomes of the judicial inquiry,” she told the committee. “There are short-term issues that need to be tackled.”

PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza said the League supported such an inquiry.

He said the PSL wasn’t legislatively empowered and resourced to execute this alone.

“Sadly, it appears that the elevated levels of criminality, unlawfulness and violence within our society, is increasingly manifesting itself at professional football matches,” commented Khoza.