The SRC of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) say they will "make good" on a disastrous Intervarsity event on Saturday 17 August where several students were injured in a stampede.
The SRC of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) say they will "make good" on a disastrous Intervarsity event on Saturday 17 August where several students were injured in a stampede.
A number of students suffered broken arms, and one broke a leg during events following the cancellation of the Intervarsity after party on Saturday.
The annual sporting tournament was attended by students from Rhodes, NMMU, Fort Hare and Walter Sisulu universities.
The NMMU SRC said in a media statement released yesterday that scheduled performances of artists including Sizwe Dlomo, AKA, Roger Goode and Ralf Gum had been cancelled because of poor weather.
According to Rhodes SRC President Sakhe Badi, poor crowd management was behind the mayhem. He claimed close to 5 000 party-goers were allowed into a venue with an official capacity of 2 500, and there was only one entrance.
"The crowd got out of control," he said. "People were intoxicated, pushing one another." Exacerbating the situation was what Badi called a serious lack of visible security. He said safety officials present were not clearly identifiable, and there were no paramedics on the scene.
Badi says the stampede broke out when students turned and ran to escape security guards using pepper spray and tasers (an electroshock weapon) in an effort to disperse the large crowd.
"They were trying to control a crowd that could not be controlled," he said. According to Badi, students who turned and ran were pushed over and trampled, with fights breaking out as they tried to flee.
Rhodes SRC members at the venue organised emergency transport for students, while according to Badi, NMMU SRC officials seemed "unfazed" by the events.
"I think they could have done more," he said. "[They] were afraid to leave the VIP area for fear of being beaten up."
In yesterday's statement, however, the NMMU SRC said, “The NMMU SRC assisted students where possible as part of our job as hosts, but assistance from the other universities’ SRCs would have been appreciated and may have helped to ease the pressure.”
They apologised for the cancellation of the after-party. They said it was as a result of sudden weather changes, which they deemed a “major safety hazard to students".
“With the weather deteriorating, students were eager to get into the tent which caused a lot of pushing and shoving at the entrance gate,” said the NMMU SRC. “After that security found it necessary to use tasers and pepper spray to keep the rowdy crowd under control."
“It is regrettable that a Rhodes student injured her leg and we wish her a speedy recovery.” Referring to the incidents on Saturday, NMMU SRC President Yange Sibelekwana said in a separate statement they would like to assure students that “we are already in discussions about ‘making good’ on this misfortune.” He didn’t specify what the “making good” might entail.
