Football fans have been left furious following their exclusion from what may have been the biggest football spectacle on the South African sports calendar.
This past weekend fans of two of the country’s most successful soccer teams Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs all rallied to the football stadium to witness the team that will clinch the bragging rights of being the best in their eagerly anticipated Soweto derby.
As expected, the turn-up was immaculate with organisers of the event ensuring that entertainment lives up to the promise with the introduction of a pre-show that featured several household names.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie – who also did his part in distributing 500 tickets to the event – shared a picture of the scenes on the day.
He captioned his post: “The greatest advert for SA sport, great respect and admiration for Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. This is not Africa’s greatest derby, it’s the world’s greatest derby, we had 15 thousand people still outside the stadium. I salute the owners, fans, and sponsors of both teams.”
The greatest advert for SA sport, great respect & admiration for @orlandopirates & @KaizerChiefs, this is not Africa’s greatest derby, it’s the Worlds greatest derby, we had 15 thousand people still outside stadium. I salute the owners, fans & sponsors of both teams. pic.twitter.com/G1i4Rr1ozt
— Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) February 2, 2025
Following his post, many of the ticket holders took to the comment section expressing their frustration on how the event was organised.
Many revealed that they were surprised to hear that their exclusion was due to the stadium reaching maximum capacity, while they had tickets that were assigned to designated seats.
As a vendor.Soweto Derby I think is disorganized, the 15k people you talk about were blocking every turnel, they over sold the tickets to the stadiums capacity. It’s always dirty, toilets are not tied up, fans spill each other’s bevs. Chairs not well spaced in front.
— Leano (@Remoratiiile) February 2, 2025
In response to comments, Gayton revealed that he was part of the decision-making committee that had decided to close the gates in fear of a stampede.
“We are meeting next week to get a better understanding of how this even happened when people like yourself had tickets but couldn’t get in, I’m equally curious,” he added.
I was part of meeting where we decided to close the gates because the stadium reached full capacity. We feared a stampede, we are meeting next week to get a better understanding of how this even happened when ppl like yourself had tickets but couldn’t get in, I’m equally curious,… https://t.co/2KnsdiH0Vi
— Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) February 3, 2025
