Sting Clash: Police disown teargas and blame promoter

16 Nov, 2014 - 06:11 0 Views
Sting Clash: Police disown teargas and blame promoter Seh Calaz being whisked away from the teargas-filled City Sports Centre

The Sunday Mail

Seh Calaz being whisked away from the teargas-filled City Sports Centre

Seh Calaz being whisked away from the teargas-filled City Sports Centre

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has blamed Partson “Chipaz” Chimbodza for the violent skirmishes that took place at the recently held Zim-dancehall Sting 2014.

The police said it is the prerogative of the promoters to ensure safety at such events as they are private functions where police are hired to provide security. Furthermore, the ZRP distanced themselves from the teargas canister set off at the show, saying they are certain it is not theirs.

After last week’s violent scenes that rocked the City Sports Centre, ZRP became the scapegoat as music fans and members of the public condemned the police for “irresponsibly” setting off the teargas in an enclosed venue.

Part of the crowd that filled the City Sports Centre during Sting 2014

Part of the crowd that filled the City Sports Centre during Sting 2014

However, the police say they have since identified the source of the teargas canister and investigations are underway. In an interview with The Sunday Mail Leisure, national police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi said it was very worrying that people had rushed to blame the police for the violence when it was actually the police that had moved in to quell the fighting.

“People are quick to speculate that it was the police that caused that chaos. It was not our function, if it were a police event, then we would shoulder the blame, but not in this case.

“This was a private function where people were paying to get in and it is the prerogative of the promoter to ensure that there is adequate security at his venue by requesting for adequate police officers. But in this case the promoter requested for officers that matched his pocket,” said Chief Supt Nyathi.

He added: “Why is it that these Zim dancehall shows are the only functions where there is violence? The media should scrutinise this and not rush to speculate. During the Harare Show (Harare Agricultural Show) in August there were problems again at a Zim dancehall show, but luckily the police were not involved.

Jiggerz and his coffin at Sting 2014

Jiggerz and his coffin at Sting 2014

“The Zimbabwe Republic Police is currently conducting investigations as to the origins of the canister which was thrown from Bay Number 3. That canister is not in our system,” said the police spokesperson.

Show promoter Chimbodza shot back at the police saying he paid and got 30 police officers but wrote to the police requesting for additional police officers as he expected bigger numbers, but he was ignored.

“I only had money to pay for 30 police details, but I wrote to the police asking them to kindly give us additional police officers at no charge as we could not afford to pay for, say, 60 officers or more. Imagine we had just 30 police officers policing 10 000 people.

“However, this should not be a blame game. We need collective thinking as stakeholders, the media, police, fans, promoters and venue owners,” said Chimbodza.

 

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds