The owner of one of the private security companies contracted to ensure safety during a match which ended violently, says he is thankful that its security guards – who were brutally assaulted – were still alive.
"Of the four, two suffered minor injuries and two were critical. We are just thankful to God that they did not pass away," said Aneme Security owner James Dlamini.
READ: Khoza: 'Assaulted Security Guard To Be Compensated By PSL Sponsors'
Dlamini on Monday confirmed it was his employee who was depicted in television news footage of a brutal attack by a mob of fans.
"He lost his phone on Saturday. He was badly injured."
A group of Kaizer Chiefs fans stormed onto the pitch of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday night, shortly after the club lost 2-0 to Free State Stars.
Fans ran amok removing banners, burning chairs and attacking some of the security guards at the stadium.
"The supporters wanted to attack [Kaizer Chiefs coach] Steve Komphela and the security guards tried to stop them. The security [guards] were then injured when they tried to stop the fans."
Dlamini said 375 guards from his company were deployed to the venue, and together with others companies, there were more than 500 guards in place.
"In total there were between 550 and 560 security guards." These were supplemented by other contracted companies as well as in-house stadium security, Dlamini said.
He said, while the stadium could take up 56 000 people, the safety capacity was 45 000.
"On Saturday, there were only 26 000 people during the match, so we had more than enough security to control the crowd. The job of the security is to control the crowd, not to fight with them."
He said the incident was unfortunate.
