ANC KZN condemns soccer fan violence at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium
23 April 2018
The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal has condemned in the strongest terms the outbreak of violence by supporters that erupted between supporters following the Nedbank Cup Semi-Final involving Kaizer Chiefs FC and Free State Stars FC at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
In an ugly advert for South African football, the soccer game turned into a war zone as violence erupted forcing players and technical staff of Kaizer Chiefs to run for cover, resulting in the destruction of the stadium's infrastructure and vehicles outside the stadium.
The outrageous acts of hooliganism and reckless violence led by supporters of Kaizer Chiefs leaves a bitter taste in our football fraternity in our country. The unforeseen drubbing of the Kaizer Chiefs allegedly sparked rage among the supporters who also resorted to pitch invasion shortly after the game finished.
“Sport is ultimately about winning and losing and as such it requires a certain level of maturity from supporters of competing sports teams. Violence does not come into this at any point. All legitimate disputes should be resolved through institutional channels,” said ANCKZN PIC Coordinator, Cde Zihle Zikalala.
As the ANC, we see great value in sport as a unifying force for our communities. Violence that has come to feature in our public sports matches, however, runs against the spirit of sport as a positive influence on our communities and our youth in particular, added Cde Zikalala.
The ANC would like sport to consistently send a positive message to communities and the organisation appeals to all sports teams to make an effort to educate their fan base and speak out against violence at every available opportunity.
As the ANC, we call for harsher sentences against those positively linked to this criminal incident that occurred in the stadium and vicinity.
We call on football bosses to educate fans about the importance of accepting the outcome of the any game to avoid such a disgrace of vandalizing of the properly in our stadiums.
Issued by Sihle Zikalala, ANCKZN PIC Coordinator, 22 April 2018
