Partnership with police is welcome
Yes, firstly it’s in order to wish the PSL and the SA Police Service all the best for joining hands to fight football- related crime in South Africa, especially the malaise at
stadiums.
The two bodies this week entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU), with the professional football organisation led by its chairman, Irvin Khoza, and law enforcement headed by national police commissioner Khehla Sitole.
The MoU seeks to formalise the partnership first signed in 2018 to ensure both parties commit to crime-fighting initiatives.
It is high time that both the PSL security and the SAPS cease to be found wanting, as has been the case in many instances in the past, especially at high-profile, high-risk games.
Just as football lovers welcome the strengthening of the partnership, there are a number of concerning happenings at our matches that need to be addressed.
I have met many supporters who have vowed not to set foot at PSL and National First Division matches again because of some unruly elements who are allowed to enter stadiums with smuggled illicit drugs and alcohol.
Dagga at stadiums has been a problem for years now, even at venues with big screens.
What happened to the initiative of asking fans to SMS the row and seat number of the fan smoking dagga and get them apprehended without putting the reporting fan at risk?
Alcohol, in the form of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs’ partner Carling beer, is sold in plastic cups at Soweto derbies.
But we’ve witnessed fans entering venues with their “cellulars”, slang for a nip of any spirit the fan fancies.
This stuff is sold outside the stadium, more so at big games such as yesterday’s Soweto derby.
Nowadays you can’t take your kids to the stadium because of dagga smokers in the stands. I’ve witnessed smoke billowing from the stands and wondered: Has a Puffng Billy locomotive just passed by? No, it’s the “herb” smoked at will and with attitude.
The law states that it is legal to smoke the “herb” only in the confines of your home.
Police and PSL security guards with binoculars can be deployed inside the stadium to combat the consumption of illicit alcohol and the smoking of dagga.
It is such challenges the PSL faces and I call for it to prioritise reinventing itself, with the help of the police, in order to realise its long-held mission of having more bums on the seats.
At some point the PSL and Stadium Management SA declared war on dagga and cigarette smokers after complaints from supporters unwilling to subject their families to secondary smoking.
Alas, the move failed to yield tangible results.
A zero-tolerance policy towards the use of dagga at matches must come with a heavy penalty, with the perpetrators facing a life ban. The use of dagga has become synonymous with football to such an extent that some even call it “a culture”.
Alcohol bottles and cans also need to be stamped out completely.
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