Nawaal Deane and Mungo Soggot
Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi has denied he fled the scene of the Ellis Park soccer stampede, amid allegations from other police officers that, after attending as a spectator, he abandoned the stadium and only returned later in a police helicopter.
Selebi dismisses any suggestion that he fled the scene, but has instead said he played a key role in organising the police effort on the night.
The impression of other policemen there was that Selebi quit the scene and then returned much later in a helicopter, berating them for their handling of the situation. Selebi addressed policemen present about their performance initially chiding them for not being more active and leaving the management of the crisis to private security personnel on the grounds, police present say.
Selebi says he was at the stadium as a spectator, but that he could not reach the pitch from his box in the stand. He says he called for reinforcements, but realised that they would struggle to get through the traffic, and so instructed police commissioners to send helicopters to attend the scene.
Selebi says he was then contacted about a possible “second stampede” developing at the nearby Ellis Park station, after which he drove away from the stadium to a nearby helicopter landing pad. Then, he says, he hovered in the helicopter above the station, and then returned to the stadium at about 11pm, landing on the pitch. Selebi says he had felt comfortable about leaving to hover over the station because “the situation was being managed at the stadium”.
“There is no way I could chicken out from this situation. I was one of the last people to leave the stadium. I knew I was coming back to the stadium.
“If I was running away, I would have gone home and put myself to bed,” Selebi says.
Asked about his reprimanding of the police officers present that evening, Selebi says that after the pandemonium broke out he dispatched two policemen to find out who the commanding officer was.
“But they never returned,” Selebi says, adding that he had criticised the police for not coming back to him. It was then, he says, that he called for reinforcements and helicopters.
According to Metrorail’s “information care” division no problems were reported at the Ellis Park train station. An employee said Metrorail even managed to provide free transport to the spectators who were coming from Ellis Park Stadium.
Asked whether Metrorail had reported to the police a possible stampede, a Metrorail representative declined to answer any further questions and referred queries to Metrorail’s marketing department. The marketing department was closed at the time of going to press.
Selebi only agreed to talk to the Mail & Guardian after failing to take two opportunities to deny he was present at the stadium as a spectator, but then left the scene. He responded after being faxed a draft of the article, which began: “He came. He saw. He fled.”
Selebi’s office initially said “all aspects of the Ellis Park tragedy will be examined by the judicial inquiry”, adding on the phone that any comment could jeopardise the probe.
Police say the division of labour between private security companies and the police at gatherings like sports matches or pop concerts is generally that the police deal with law enforcement outside and, apart from the public order police ser- vice, leave the rest to the security companies.
The following morning Selebi presided over a meeting of senior officers involved the night before.
Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete last week gave Selebi and other senior managers from the South African Police Services awards for their outstanding service.
Sapa reported the police say the prizes were for officers who distinguished themselves through exceptional leadership, resourcefulness and a sense of duty.
“Outstanding service is exactly what I expected from commissioner Selebi, and his delivery today has far exceeded my expectations,” Tshwete reportedly said.
Additional reporting by Evidence wa ka Ngobeni