The City of Joburg said its metro police had arrested a number of people for various crimes perpetrated at concert goers outside the FNB Stadium following the Global Citizen Festival on Sunday.
Festival-goers have told of brazen robberies, traffic chaos and lack of public transport outside the concert venue and at the nearby Sasol garage in Nasrec. Transport services such as the Gautrain said many of its buses were stuck in traffic while fares for e-hailing service Uber had more than quadrupled.
On social media, people detailed how the precinct became a "war zone" as running battles ensued between criminals and showgoers, with many being mugged of their cell phones and other belongings while young women waiting for their rides home at a nearby garage were harassed and nearly raped, with allegedly no security or police in sight.
There were reports of a group of about 30 men using knives and guns to attack people and grab their belongings. The injuries included stab wounds and a broken nose.
A Member of the Mayoral Committee for Public Safety, Michael Sun, said that the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department was responsible for traffic management and deployed the following:
Emergency services were also on standby.
Sun said the rest of the responsibilities belonged to SAPS and the Presidential Protection Service as the lead security role players.
He confirmed that only one case was formally opened but that seven men had been arrested of which one will be charged for assaulting a police officer.
Sun said the Guns and Roses concert last week attracted nearly 65 000 fans, but only one case of domestic violence was reported.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura asked for a full report into the matter.
- African News Agency (ANA)
