April 11th marks a sad day in the history of football in this country. Many of us will recall the horror of a stampede that claimed many soccer-loving spectators who had braced that chilly evening to support their favourite teams; Chiefs and Pirates.

A packed Ellis Park stadium had once more played host to throngs of passionate supporters whose excitement was punctuated by a horrific announcement somewhere in the middle of a game that bore all the hallmarks of a local derby.

You will recall that Tony Illodigwe had put the Amakhosi in front with a solitary goal when our reliable Putco Mafani wrestled a microphone to announce what all of us were least expecting. The mere mention of the unfolding drama and its deadly consequences ushered a shocking cry that was sighed in unison and followed immediately by a deafening silence as we stood in disbelief.

All of a sudden, the vuvuzelas, the whistling and the songs were all silenced as our attention was drawn to bodies that piled up behind the goalposts on the Northern side of the stadium. One stretcher after the other, lay men, women and children who had just come to enjoy the electrifying spectacle that our derby had become famous for. This was not to be their evening as we all returned to our homes with saddened hearts over those whose fate had been designed in that fashion by the master-craft man himself – God the Almighty.

It is almost five years since that day in history. All we can do is to once more gather to pay our respect to the grieving families of those who were ushered into their final destiny on that day. We do so to gesture our continued love and support with the hope that their wounds are slowly but surely healing. After all, it would be absurd to expect them to forget their loved ones but in the same token, it is only humane to share their pain and place all our trust into the soothing hands and heart of a loving GOD.

The Amakhosi will therefore participate in the memorial ceremony on Tuesday, 11th April 2006 at 09:00, at Ellis Park Stadium to share the grief of those families and relatives who were affected by the tragedy of that evening.

This open event welcomes all those who may spare a moment just to pray and to wipe the tearful cheeks of those that felt the impact of the tragedy. It also draws us close to one another as a society that still enjoys a game of soccer irrespective of where it is scheduled to take place.

This occasion is necessary in our calendar particularly at the time when the world is focussed on our preparations to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Surely five years is inadequate for us to have conjured any tangible strategies to prevent stampedes but we can at least draw some valuable lessons around stadium access control from such an experience.

One may just hope that all those charged with the responsibility of reconstructing old and redesigning new stadiums will bear in mind the devastating consequences of not addressing the movement of spectators during big events. In a similar fashion, we need to immediately assess if our emergency services are well resourced to react to tragedies of this nature before any excitement of hosting 2010 overwhelms our reasoning.

Let us therefore not forget that soccer is very much part of our lives and its association with death dilutes the enjoyment that it brings into our homes. One may just pray South Africa never experiences this tragedy at any event irrespective of its significance and or magnitude.

Thebe Mohatle (Mr)

Communications Manager/PRO

0829910927