Man in court for Moses Mabhida pitch invasion
A 34-year-old man accused of being among a group of soccer fans who trashed Moses Mabhida Stadium over the weekend has portrayed himself as a meek and submissive person.
Phelelani Jojisa has been charged with pitch invasion and malicious damage to property at the world-class Durban stadium on Saturday night. He stood quietly in the dock at the Durban Magistrate's Court on Monday as his brief proceedings unfolded.
Magistrate Jackie Jonck postponed the matter until Wednesday for further investigation and a bail application.
Speaking outside court, Jojisa's sister Nomaswazi said it was unfair that her brother was the only one arrested.
"How can he be the only one when there were so many others?"
Police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said police had initially arrested two people but could only link Jojisa to the pitch invasion.
"We are working round the clock and hope the public can also assist. If they can, they are urged to come through with information."
Fans invaded the pitch following Kaizer Chiefs' 2-0 loss to Free State Stars during a Nedbank Cup semi-final.
Police had to use tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the unruly fans, who could be seen hurling chairs and beating security officials. Several people were hospitalised, including a security guard. All the injured have since been discharged from hospital.
The scenes were widely criticised on social media and those in the sporting community.
Security company owner thankful his guards made it out of Moses Mabhida attack alive
The owner of one of the private security companies contracted to ensure safety during a match which ended violently, says he is thankful that its security guards – who were brutally assaulted – were still alive.
"Of the four, two suffered minor injuries and two were critical. We are just thankful to God that they did not pass away," said Aneme Security owner James Dlamini.
Speaking to News24 on Monday, Dlamini confirmed that it was his employee who was depicted in television news footage of a brutal attack by a mob of fans.
"He lost his phone on Saturday. He was badly injured."
A group of Kaizer Chiefs fans stormed onto the pitch of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday night, shortly after the club lost 2-0 to Free State Stars.
Fans ran amok removing banners, burning chairs and attacking some of the security guards at the stadium.
"The supporters wanted to attack [Kaizer Chiefs coach] Steve Komphela and the security guards tried to stop them. The security [guards] were then injured when they tried to stop the fans."
Dlamini said 375 guards from his company were deployed to the venue, and together with others companies, there were more than 500 guards in place.
"In total there were between 550 and 560 security guards." These were supplemented by other contracted companies as well as in-house stadium security, Dlamini said.
He said, while the stadium could take up 56 000 people, the safety capacity was 45 000.
"On Saturday, there were only 26 000 people during the match, so we had more than enough security to control the crowd. The job of the security is to control the crowd, not to fight with them."
He said the incident was unfortunate.
