As public outcry regarding the introduction of the sale of tickets for the ABC Motsepe League national playoffs in Mthatha Stadium rages on, Safa Eastern Cape have defended the decision, saying that it is for crowd control.
Registration takes place on Monday, with the playoffs officially kicking off on Tuesday. The final is scheduled to take place at 11am on Sunday.
The mother body came under criticism on social media when they said spectators would have to pay an entry fee at the gate for this year’s edition, in contrast to previous versions.
According to Webtickets, the prices range from R40 for adults, R20 for children and R700 for VIPs per match.
But the match day ticket prices were later converted to week tickets for adults and children.
The event finishes on Sunday.
Safa EC chair Andile Ngconjana said they looked at the capacity of the Mthatha Stadium in comparison to the Sisa Dukashe Stadium, where the provincial decider was played in April.
They came to a decision that they needed proactive planning to manage the large number of spectators coming from the nine provinces.
Mthatha Stadium has an official seating capacity of 6,200, while the Sisa Dukashe in Mdantsane can hold up to 15,000.
“We don’t want to have a stampede. So one of our first control measures was to make the public pay to get inside the venue,” Ngconjana said.
“Three sides of the stadium don’t have stands. There’s only one side that has a grandstand, and it is small. It will get crowded immediately. In those instances there will be pushing and shoving,” he said.
The Mthatha Stadium is part of the 2010 Fifa World Cup legacy and still stands unfinished.
While the capacity scenario was brought into the spotlight, King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) mayor Nyaniso Nelani said that in the situation, they needed to be aggressive in making sure that the field was finished.
He said they have met with the national and provincial governments already in ironing out resource mobilisation for it to be completed.
Ngconjana said the event was expected to contribute at least R6.5m towards the GDP of the KSD municipality.
Safa EC competition committee chair Eric Mata had previously told the publication the hosting bid for the national playoffs cost R3m.
The province will be represented by Bizana’s team, FC Ravens.
They are in Group B with Hope FC from the Western Cape and Mangaung Unite, though the Free State representative status might change depending on a case that is being looked at in the boardroom.
Group A consists of North West University and reps from Mpumalanga and Gauteng, while Group C will be made up of Mpheni Defenders, NC Professionals and a KwaZulu-Natal team.
Daily Dispatch
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