When other people prefer to watch a football match in the comfort of their homes, others derive pleasure in presenting their physical selves at a game to give true meaning to the word – support.

These supporters are the ones who often brave any unfriendly weather just to witness the spectacle that characterizes our sports of football.

They often suffer the hostilities of travelling long distances, or any logistical inconvenience of some sort yet they do reach their favourite stadiums just to support their favourite team and spur its battle warriors to conquer their opposition.

Once they reach their stadiums, one would witness a spectacle of colour as they are clad in the colours of their favourite teams. The colourful spectators would ululate, sing, and blow their vuvuzelas into a cacophony that makes our games a fun-filled experience. Throughout all this, one sees real passion, an undying and unselfish love that makes our football one of the most popular in the calendar of social events.

Essentially, these are men, women and children who just love football. Their absence from any game is often cursed and dismissed as lacking in an understanding of true meaning of support. After the game and despite its outcome, these passionate supporters would continue their celebration in the corridors of their workplaces, in the corners of the street and any place where an opportunity for a post-mortem avails itself. These post-mortems will perpetuate until the next game is played.

These are also men, women, and children who do not entertain any thought of derailment during their cause to attending any football match, any time, any where. When the game progresses and all excitement reaches a crescendo of fun and drama, none of these spectators would anticipate any loss of lives nor any tragedy that may punctuate their reason for being party to the match. None of these passionate supporters would even entertain thoughts of returning home with a grieving heart for losing their relatives or friends at an outing known for its fun and excitement.

Apart from the passionate supporters, one may not forget the hardworking teams of operations managers, the dedication of staff and all those that are charged with the responsibility of delivering a worthwhile and successful event. These are the behind-the-scene teams of professionals who may not possess the talent of football skills but who are equally blessed with the knowledge of ensuring a successfully planned and logistically accurate event. Like their spectator counterparts, none of them would expect any unfortunate eventuality that would drain their emotions particularly when such involves counting the costs associated with losing lives at their event.

To the players in the fields, the spectator crowds and their hardworking officials present an opportunity to shine as they seek to outperform their opponents. The volume of excited spectators pumps their adrenalin to levels of intoxication as they turn the field into a battlefield of talent, skill and the occasional mind-blowing wizardry of brilliance with a simple soccer ball. All these are the elements of a good day at the stadium.

After each match, the remaining families back at home wait in anticipation of their relatives just to share in the excitement of the day. One often feels to have been part of the stadium as those that attended relieve the memories of an exciting day at the stadium.

As you can see, none of these have any room for neither tragedy nor anything that associates such events with pain and sorrow. Apart from the pain of being outplayed and losing, none of the attendees and those that remain at home would be prepared to handle the pain of losing a beloved one who had become one amongst the throngs that make a football match another form of entertainment.

Like both spectators, event managers and players, these families will least expect to be later called to identify cold and dead bodies of their beloved relatives. The 11th April of 2001 remains embedded in our mind because it is one drama-filled day that all South Africans hope it will never repeat itself again.

You will recall that in the middle of a fiercely contested match between the two leading teams in our country; Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, our excitement was punctuated by one horrific announcement ever made to change our lives. When the referee signalled a temporary stoppage of the game, and when the programme director of the day wrestled emotions and tears to announce the unfortunate tragedy that befell us, none of us had been prepared for such.

For a moment, many of us were weakened and our energies were turned into slumber as we witnessed one of the most painful moments that had nothing to do with what football was intended. Behind the goal posts of a packed Ellis Park stadium, in the Northern stands, we all witnessed what we later termed the Ellis Park Disaster. The reality of the tragedy simmered as the numbers of the deceased kept on piling.

The sight of emotionally pained footballers and the volunteers that braved the moment to offer help, remain a memory that is hard to erase.

We are therefore gathered this morning to pay our tribute to those that were affected on that day. It is now five years and it can only be proper that we start this day by casting our thoughts by sharing the pain with those that may want to forget this day.

Let us pray in unison that we all heal as we share the sympathy with the affected families and relatives. Whereas it is impossible to completely obliterate the reality of losing our beloved, it is equally important to host such a memorial as a gesture of demonstrating our patriotic sense of relating and sharing the grief with those affected by such tragedy.

Throughout all this, I pray that we remember Ellis Park as a venue that has contributed immensely to the growth of football in this country. I also pray that its management heals from the memories of that tragic day and continue to maintain it as a Mecca of massive sporting and social events. We should not forget memories of cup finals, the hosting of international sporting events, the Iwisa Charity Spectaculars and many other football occasions that we hosted at this same venue particularly during those times when the sharing of amenities was still a hotly contested terrain.

In the context of our sports and for all its intent and purpose, I do not think that any plan towards a successful soccer match would deliberately include the loss of lives that we witnessed on this fateful day.

Let the Ellis Park Disaster challenge us to carefully negotiate all discussion around stadium access and crowd control particularly when we settle to prepare to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. It is important that we assemble all expertise and all knowledgeable engineers, and administrators that are well endowed with crowd management so that we are better prepared for this massive event.

Like many other sportsmen, I would prefer to be remembered by successes in the field of play and not for being part of a horrific tragedy like the one we witnessed at this venue five years ago. It could only be fair to reminisce on the result and the displayed talent of the day instead of counting the cost of losing our fellow friends and relatives on the day.

Let us therefore join our hands to invite the healing powers of GOD as we remember the lost lives of our beloved. It is only fair to accept that we do not have control over our lives except to deal with the consequences of death every time it strikes when we lest expect.

I thank you.

Kaizer Motaung (Mr)


Chairman/Managing Director