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The Premier Soccer League (PSL) will observe a moment of silence ahead of tonight and tomorrow night’s fixtures in memory of the 43 football fans who lost their lives during the Ellis Park disaster on April 11 2001.
Today marks 16 years since the tragic stampede disaster, when South Africa’s biggest footballing derby had to be stopped 30 minutes into the first half.
Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates were tied at one goal a piece when the incident took place.
250 were injured as people poured into a stadium that was already full.
29 people died inside the stadium and a 14 more died afterwards.
Several children, including 11 year old Rosswinn Nation and 13 year old Sphiwe Mpungose.
The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 but eyewitnesses said there were thousands more inside the ground.
A police spokesman put the figure of fans inside and outside the stadium at 120,000.
Most of the deaths occurred when the crowd rushed the gate.
Fans interviewed after the tragedy condemned the clubs’ attitude to safety, accusing them of being more interested in tickets than safety of the spectators.
The police were also blamed for not keeping order outside the stadium.
The tragedy, known as the Ellis Park Stadium disaster, still ranks as South Africa’s worst sporting accident.
This was not he first incident involing the Soweto giants.
In 1991, 42 people were killed at the Orkney Stadium as crowds tried to get away from unruly fans.
