Chaos erupts at Athlone Stadium as job seekers injured in stampede
Injuries were reported as chaos erupts at Athlone Stadium during job fair for 25,000 seekers.
Image: Facebook
Chaos erupted at Athlone Stadium on Thursday, with people reportedly injured in a “stampede” at the City of Cape Town’s “A Day of 1 000 Opportunities”.
Some 25 000 showed up at the event hosted by CapeBPO and the City’s special purpose vehicle (SPC), in a partnership to create a direct path for job-hunting youth into the flourishing contact centre industry.
Ahead of the event, Mayco member for Economic Growth, James Vos, said: “This isn’t just any other job fair. CapeBPO’s team, together with 12 of the biggest contact centre operators in Cape Town, will be at Athlone Stadium offering practical career guidance, interviews, and an offer to receive training for those who might not get signed up on the day.
“What really stands out for me is seeing the energy from young people being connected to real opportunities — and knowing that, step by step, we are helping to shorten that unemployment queue.”
But the turnout exceeded capacity. The City said in a statement: “Due to capacity constraints, no more jobseekers can be admitted into the stadium.”
At the stadium, Metro Police and SAPS were called in for crowd control, with social media reports claiming that people were injured.
One person said on Facebook: “It’s really bad. I’m here - it’s not that crowded, but a few people are hurt, maybe they were stepped on. I was standing on the other side of the road, but now people are lining up in queues.”
Another said: “Those girls got badly hurt from pushing too hard.”
Chairman of Parliament’s Portfolio committee on Police, Ian Cameron, shared on Facebook that shots had been fired before deleting the post.
However, ward councillor Rashid Adams explained: “No shots were fired, there was a bit of a stampede, and a few people got injured.
“I checked with Metro Police and SAPS, and they confirmed no shots were fired, so we do not know where that rumour started.
“Police were there, however, to secure crowd control.”
The City said those who were not able to get into the stadium can still apply online at Job Vacancy - SAYouth.