Gifts not distributed during former president Nelson Mandela’s annual Christmas party will be handed out to pre-schools early in 2005, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund announced on Monday.
The fund’s chief executive, Sibongile Mkhabela, said in a statement the arrangement has been confirmed with Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela and meetings will be held to finalise the distribution plan.
The meetings ”will be scheduled with the department of education and the department of social development in the beginning of the school calendar year”, she said.
Mkhabela said the party was called off in Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Sunday after it was realised the ”shuffling and pushing” as the gifts were being handed out was going to compromise the children’s lives.
Organisers catered for 20 000 children but decided to allow in more to avoid the group still waiting outside ”from storming inside”. The crowd inside then swelled to 76 000.
”To manage a crowd of that size was clearly beyond the capacity of the organisers’ plans,” said Mkhabela.
After listening to a speech by Balindlela, the children queued for gift parcels.
Although there was no fighting, the children and their parents tried to shove their way to the front of the queue, knocking over people in the process, said police spokesperson Superintendent Nondumiso Jafta.
She said several children, including a four-month-old baby, were later found abandoned. The only injury was to a man who broke his leg in a fall while walking to the party, and was completely unrelated to the crush.
”We are happy to report that no children were injured and there were only a few bruises that were taken care of by the emergency services that were in the midst with ambulances,” Mkhabela said, refuting media reports that tear gas and sjamboks were used to calm the crowd.
She also said the fund will decide whether to increase security and personnel at future events or to distribute the gifts at schools.
This is the second time the party has been marred by overcrowding.
In 2002, 20 000 people — three times more than expected — turned up. Several children were injured in a crush and security guards were forced to cut down fences.
For the first time in 11 years, Mandela was not at the party, which was held a week earlier than usual. He was instead at home in Johannesburg after reportedly cancelling all public engagements to be with his son, Makgatho Mandela, who is seriously ill in hospital.
Makgatho, in his mid-fifties, is Mandela’s sole surviving son, born by his first wife, Evelyn, who died earlier this year. — Sapa