Soweto derby traffic nightmare could lead to a disaster

Having attended many Soweto derbies over the years, I have now come to realise that this fixture has become too big to manage, and the authorities may have given up too. This was evident on Saturday when the FNB Stadium precinct was visited by the usual chaos that characterises the Kaizer Chiefs-Orlando Pirates fixture, despite assurances of smooth access into the venue. Admittedly, those who heeded the call to arrive early — when the gates opened at 11.30am — did not experience the inconvenience of heavy traffic queues and clueless marshals and metro police denying even those with legitimate passes entry on grounds that the parking spaces were “already full”.

The reality is not all of us can arrive at the venue about five hours before kickoff, but ticket holders and accredited personnel who have seats allocated should not be turned away at the gates. I was stuck on Rand Show Road for two hours, and at the first checkpoint, I had to negotiate with a metro police official who was screaming at motorists: “You can’t go in; parking is already full.” A lady brandishing a VIP parking access ticket protested she could not “walk too long on heels”, but the authorities would not budge. That argument alone must have lasted 15 to 20 minutes as traffic stood still and kickoff neared.

I was one of those who couldn’t access the media parking space, despite being accredited and furnished with a parking ticket, because the road leading to the access gate was blocked by other motorists trying to sweet-talk their way in. Eventually, we abandoned the car outside and walked into the venue, by which time Pirates had long scored the first goal. The digital ticketing system was functional, but there were network problems, as always the case at FNB.

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We had to face two more queues inside, and this could easily have gone awry. Our tickets, which were scanned at the first entry, displayed “already used” when attempting to scan a second time at the hospitality suite. There was another queue to get wristbands to access the hospitality suite — and Pirates scored their second goal at about that time.

We made it in with the match at 40 minutes, having spent three hours around the precinct. It’s an awful amount of time to spend travelling 5km. It’s unnecessary because it can be managed better.

I know because Soccer City hosted many big events — including the 2010 World Cup final — and access has always been managed better. The Soweto derby is an exception. It’s synonymous with perpetual chaos.

Last year there were more than 110,000 people inside the stadium, with 20,000 fake tickets. On Saturday, the official attendance figure was put at 88,000. I suspect we had way more than that.

The fake tickets have not been eliminated, clearly, because we were approached several times by people who wanted to sell us tickets despite claims anyone who did this would be arrested. What’s the solution? Returning to 2010 World Cup protocols would help alleviate all this.

The derby is a highly profitable event, so allocating extra funds to help with park and ride to avoid people showing up there in their cars shouldn’t be a problem. The public transport system which worked so efficiently in 2010 can be deployed again just for this fixture that comes twice a year.

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