adminJOHANNESBURG. — The Soweto Derby is the highlight of the South African football calendar for many fans, but is also a fixture mired in tragedy and with something of a dark past.
The latest incident to cast a pall over the game came on Saturday when two fans were killed and scores others injured by a stampede at the FNB Stadium, all while the game carried on inside the cavernous venue.
Nobody should go to a stadium to watch a game of football and not come home but history, it seems, will continue to be repeated with tragic consequences.
Two Soweto Derby incidents stand out for the sheer number of people who lost their lives so tragically. The first was at the Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney in January 1991, when Chiefs and Pirates met in a pre-season friendly.
Pirates fans started pelting their Chiefs counterparts with objects and then charged at them, which caused a stampede in which 42 people were killed. No judicial inquiry was ever held and nobody was ever held accountable.
A decade later, in April 2001, 43 people died at Ellis Park when fans forced their way into the stadium, causing a crush that claimed young and old. — KickOff
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter