New safety measures by Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) will be put to the test on Saturday afternoon, when Kaizer Chiefs host Mamelodi Sundowns at the FNB Stadium.
Amakhosi and Masandawana will collide in a big Betway Premiership clash, a game that will somewhat set the tone for what is expected to be an exciting season ahead.
At the back of a stressful and worrisome previous season of chaos, unbearable traffic, and overcapacity at the stadiums, particularly at FNB and Orlando Stadium, SMSA introduced a new ticketing system and other measures to help curb the ticking time bomb at the stadiums.
Fans encouraged to use special modes of public transport
Ahead of the much-anticipated clash between Chiefs and Sundowns, Stadium Management CEO Bertie Grobbelaar announced other modes of public transport made available on the day and encouraged fans to utilise them instead of driving to the stadium.
“If you enter the venue with a trip from Park Station, R125 will be enough to get you at the stadium, where you will get scanned as if you entered the venue [stadium] at Park Stadium.
“You are going to get wrist-banded with a specific wristband that will only be disclosed the day of the event. You will then get onto a bus, you get dropped off at the stadium, and there will be a dedicated access gate where everyone with that wristband will be able to enter the stadium.
With that wristband, you will not need to be scanned again at the stadium. Fans will access the venue with a wristband through this dedicated gate into the stadium. So, you pay R125 to buy your ticket with the Gautrain package.
Grobbelaar added that there will be other stations that fans can utilise, such as the Rosebank Gautrain station, including the Rea Vaya bus service.
Scanning at Park Station
“If you get on at Rosebank, you will pay R38 from Rosebank to Park Station. At Park Station, you produce your Gautrain match package, that one that you bought for R125.
“You will be scanned as if you enter the venue at Park Station and get wrist-banded, and the bus will drop you off at the skid pad at the venue, where there is a dedicated access gate that does not require any further scanning to enter the venue.
“So, on Friday we will conduct a dry run to test the system, and this dry run will also include the routes for Ria Vaya buses, for which its ticket package will cost R160. There are personal preferences, but if I had to go to any event at FNB, this is definitely the option I would use.”
On Thursday, Grobbelaar confirmed that there were 32 000 tickets sold and expects them to be sold out by Friday.
- Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) will test new safety measures during the Kaizer Chiefs vs Mamelodi Sundowns match at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
- SMSA introduced a new ticketing system and additional public transport options to address issues like traffic and overcapacity from the previous season.
- Fans can buy a R125 Gautrain package which includes a wristband for dedicated stadium access without further scanning.
- Other transport options include using Rosebank Gautrain station and the Rea Vaya bus service, with respective ticket prices of R38 (Rosebank to Park Station) and R160 for the bus service.
- As of Thursday, 32,000 tickets for the match were sold, with expectations of a sell-out by Friday.
