Derby Drama: Myticket Chaos A Disaster Waiting To Happen

(Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)

In theory, the Myticket app system is a masterstroke. In practice, it is starting to look like a disaster waiting to happen.

Introduced to clamp down on ticket fraud, the digital system has undeniably achieved part of its mandate. Fake tickets have been drastically reduced. Scalpers have found it harder to manipulate the system.

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On paper, that is progress.

But what unfolded at the recent Soweto Derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs laid bare a dangerous flaw. While fraud may be down, legitimate supporters are increasingly being turned away.

By the time fans reach the stadium turnstiles, their tickets have already been scanned up to four times at multiple security checkpoints. Each layer is meant to tighten control.

Instead, it is creating confusion.

Supporters who had successfully cleared previous scans were suddenly met with the dreaded message at the final point of entry: “invalid ticket” or “ticket already used”.

Frustration quickly turned into agitation.

When the match kicked off at 3:30 pm, unusually on time, thousands of supporters were still stranded outside. That in itself should have been a red flag.

By 4pm, the situation had spiralled.

Security personnel, faced with swelling and increasingly restless crowds, opened certain gates in an attempt to defuse the pressure. It had the opposite effect. Once word spread, the gates were bombarded. Persistence turned into force. Force turned into surrender.

The result was chaos.

Estimates suggest that more than 100 000 people squeezed into a stadium designed for 90 000.

A 10,000-person overflow might not sound catastrophic on paper. In reality, it is terrifying.

The aisles, designed for safe passage to bathrooms, vendors, and exits, were completely blocked. Movement became restricted. Basic crowd flow principles collapsed. In the event of a fire, structural issue, or even a sudden Highveld thunderstorm, evacuation would have been close to impossible.

Thankfully, there were no major fatalities reported this time. But that feels more like luck than good management.

Technology is meant to enhance safety, not compromise it. The Myticket system may be brilliant in concept, but when legitimate ticket holders are locked out, and crowd control collapses as a consequence, the entire safety ecosystem is undermined.

The Soweto Derby is already an emotionally charged fixture. Add digital malfunction, human frustration, and overwhelmed security into the mix, and you have a volatile cocktail.

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This is not alarmism. It is a warning.

Because the next time gates are forced open and capacity limits are breached, the currency paid may not be inconvenience or embarrassment.

It may be lives.

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