A party that was meant to celebrate the end of the Eastern Cape Inter-varsity weekend deteriorated into a chaotic stampede last Saturday 17 August.
A party that was meant to celebrate the end of the Eastern Cape Inter-varsity weekend deteriorated into a chaotic stampede last Saturday 17 August.
At this year’s Inter-varsity, hosted by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), bouncers used pepper spray and tasers to control thousands of students at the after party, some of whom had to seek medical treatment after the fiasco.
Now that the sporting games are over, the inter-varsity blame game has begun. According to a joint statement released by the Rhodes Student Representative Council (SRC) and Dean of Students Office yesterday, two serious stampedes took place.
The first was at the entrance gate to Rag Farm, on NMMU South campus, which happened as a result of thousands of students attempting to get into the venue. “In the process numerous students were trampled upon,” the statement reads.
The second stampede followed when “students were being pushed and pressed against the gate, and some students fell to the ground”. Several Rhodes students suffered broken and twisted arms and one broke her leg.
The venue has a capacity of 2 500 people. Rhodes SRC President Sakhe Badi estimated that there were approximately 5 000 students at the venue.
Badi said the NMMU SRC seemed “unfazed” by the events that quickly spiralled out of control. “I think they could have done more. They were afraid to leave the VIP area for fear of being beaten up,” he said. “We must express our grave disappointment in the leadership of the NMMU SRC, who were comfortably seated in the VIP area,” the statement read.
“[They] generally did nothing to act during the commotion.”
The Rhodes SRC and DoS felt “there was a serious lack of organisation for the entire event, as well as inadequate security personnel”. Also, “emergency medical personnel were not visible on the premises, and the ambulance responded slowly”.
The NMMU SRC released two public statements, apologising “to all students for the cancellation of what should have been a highlight of the student social calendar”. The host university blamed the chaos on poor weather conditions and gale-force winds, denying a lack of organisation. They confirmed that security personnel used tasers and pepper spray “to keep the rowdy crowd under control”.
As for claims that NMMU student leaders didn’t react appropriately to the unfolding chaos, they refuted this saying, “assistance from the other universities’ SRCs would have been appreciated and may have helped to ease the pressure”.
A Rhodes student at the after party, Sixolisiwe Magula, said she and her friends hid under a nearby truck to escape the mayhem. She said she saw a girl shortly after the first stampede whose eyes were “as swollen as fists – the security had sprayed her eyes”.
The last time NMMU hosted Intervarsity in 2010, there was also a stampede.
“We therefore feel that NMMU should be banned from hosting the Inter-varsity party in future,” the Rhodes statement read. NMMU says there’s no need for any hasty decisions and, “We assure you that we are already in discussions about ‘making good’ on this misfortune.”
