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Saddam: We're not doing enough for Ellis Park victims

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Kaizer Chiefs v Orlando Pirates (11 April 2001) – abandoned after Ellis Park Disaster
Kaizer Chiefs v Orlando Pirates (11 April 2001) – abandoned after Ellis Park Disaster

Kaizer Chiefs prominent supporter Freddie "Saddam" Maake says the soccer fraternity is not doing enough to remember the 43 lives that were lost during the Ellis Park disaster.

Today marks exactly 11 years since the tragic incident happened.

Maake, who was amongst the crowd on the day of the 2001 incident, says the stampede cannot be removed from his mind.

READ | Ellis Park disaster: ‘It still scares me up to now’

"I was the chairman of the Kaizer Chiefs supporters branch, and we lost five of our members that night," Maake tells KickOff.

"I was busy the whole night, I couldn't go to bed, I was struggling to identify the dead bodies because some were swollen.

"I came to watch the match with my wife and son Cellular, he was still very young back then.

"There were more people outside the stadium compared to those who were inside, and the tickets were finished.

"Chiefs scored first through Tony Ilodigwe and the crowd went crazy with excitement, and those that were still outside the stadium became very angry because they were missing out.

"When Benedict Vilakazi equalized for [Orlando] Pirates, people started gatecrashing at Gate 4. Others were even falling from the stand's upper levels.

"We only started realizing how bad the situation was when the then Kaizer Chiefs PRO, Putco Mafani, explained on the stadium's PA what was happening.

"I took my wife and kid inside the pitch and headed straight to Gate 4, people were screaming and some had broken limbs. We had to help carry the dead bodies to the field.

"That day we went to Ellis Park stadium to count points, but to our shock, we ended up counting dead bodies. It took us and the authorities two days to ratify the dead bodies.

"The PSL provided us with free buses, and they also gave each of the deceased's families an amount of R15 000. I was there when all of this happened.

"Together with the Pirates supporters, we started the "Every Game, We Play For You" campaign in honour of the deceased. But I don't know what happened afterward because that campaign has now been neglected by our clubs."

Maake, however, feels the families of those who perished on that fateful day have been neglected as time passed away, and suggested that more should be done to help them come to terms with their loss, even as it is so many years later. 

"I know there's a board with all the victims' names in Gate 4 at Ellis Park Stadium in honour of our fallen soldiers. Every year, families of the victims used to be taken to that board so they could light candles, but that is no longer happening.

"Irvin Khoza and Kaizer Motaung tried their best to keep this going, but I don't know what is happening now, it's beyond our control.

"What we are doing as a football fraternity to remember those who died is not enough, that's my opinion.

"There should be some grants for those who got crippled on that day, and every year on this day counseling should be arranged for the families because it reminds them of the 2001 incident.

"This thing of not playing the Soweto Derby at night is fine and we understand it, but the PSL should do more on this to make sure the victims are not forgotten."

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