By Monwabisi Jimlongo
Security is going to be beefed up when Chippa United clash against Kaizer Chiefs in a DStv Premiership encounter at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Saturday next week.
East London won the fight to host this match despite Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Mcebisi ‘Bassie’ Kamana, a member of the mayoral committee for sport, recreation, arts and culture, threatening the Chilli Boys with the cancellation of their contract should they take this game to the Buffalo City Stadium.
Last month, Premier Soccer League (PSL) general manager Ace Ncobo was forced to intervene after thousands of football fans stood in long queues as they wanted to gain entry into the East London venue just as the clock was ticking towards kick-off time for the Chilli Boys’ encounter against Cape Town City, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
In an effort to avoid a possible stampede, a quick-thinking Ncobo acted fast and ordered that the gates be wide open to allow football followers to gain entry into the stadium.
“We have taken note of all the challenges we have encountered in the smaller games. The security cluster, which is led by the South African Police Service, has also taken note of the challenges we experienced. SAPS is going to lead in making sure that there’s safety at the match,” Samkelo Ngwenya, head of communications at the Buffalo City Metro, said.
Even though no incidents were reported when the Chilli Boys hosted ABC Motsepe League side FC Ravens in a Nedbank Cup match at the East London venue recently, traffic control in and around the stadium is, according to Ngwenya, going to be improved.
“In terms of the facility itself, it has been declared safe by both the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and SAPS. We just hope that people will arrive on time so that we can have an incident free match,” Ngwenya said.
