Handing over the document in Pretoria, commission chairman Transvaal Judge-President Bernard Ngoepe said: "In due course, you will know more as to why we describe it as an interim report."

Justice Minister Penuell Maduna was also present to receive a copy of the 90-page document.

Forty-three people died and more than 100 were injured in the stampede during a soccer match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates on April 11 last year.

Ngoepe concluded public hearings into the disaster late last year.

Balfour said the report would now go President Thabo Mbeki for his perusal.

"Surely, he will say something about it. As the judge said, this is an interim report. There might some final things to be handed over at the end of it all."

Report is simple to understand

Ngoepe said the document had been written in such a way that even the average soccer fan would be able to understand it.

"We have tried to keep out too much legalise and write it in very ordinary English."

The report met some of the objectives of the inquiry - "but there remains a portion that needs to be dealt with".

The decision to release an interim report was influenced by South Africans anxious to know what happened on the night of the disaster, Ngoepe said.

Balfour would not predict when the contents would be made public, saying: "We will assist the president in condensing the report. I don't think it will be long as we don't want the matter to drag on and on."