Soweto Derby fans warned over new illegitimate ticket prevention measures ahead of Kaizer Chiefs against Orlando Pirates showdown

The move comes after a chaotic evening during last week's encounter between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns at FNB Stadium.

Despite over 61,000 tickets being sold for that fixture, the digital self-service scanners failed at the turnstiles, forcing security to allow thousands of fans through without proper validation to avoid dangerous congestion and potential stampedes outside the ground.

SMSA is determined to ensure that the sold-out Derby does not suffer the same fate, with Grobbelaar confirming that manual intervention is necessary to protect the integrity of the event. 

The stadium boss is adamant that every person inside the "Calabash" must hold a valid entry permit, especially given the history of ticket forgery surrounding this massive rivalry.

Grobbelaar told Sowetan: “Lessons learnt? I think that where we tried to expedite the process by allowing people to scan for themselves, that actually delayed the process. 

"So, in the derby, we are going to have scanning staff members from Fan Services to do the scanning at the first validation scanning point. 

"Fan Services is an independent company. They will physically scan the phones or the tickets," he added.

While the new system was originally intended to reduce costs by moving away from traditional vendors like TicketPro and Computicket, the failure of the technology has forced SMSA to spend more on external staff. Grobbelaar attributed much of the Sundowns game chaos to late arrivals, but he admitted that technical glitches played a significant role in the breakdown of order.

“The congestion that was created an hour before kick-off created the problem,” he continued. 

“We had positive feedback from the patrons that arrived before that hour and very negative feedback from people who arrived within that hour. There’s a perception that some of the turnstiles weren’t working.

"From a technical perspective, I’ve got a report from the ticketing company [that says] of the 126 turnstiles that were opened on the day, six failed due to platform technical issues and there were another eight that failed when people tried to force their way through... The gears stripped, so it’s not the total failure of the turnstile system," Grobbelaar further explained.

The pressure is now on to ensure that the thousands of Amakhosi and Buccaneers faithful can enter the stadium safely and legally. 

Grobbelaar remains defiant in the face of criticism, insisting that the transition to a modern digital platform is a necessary evolution for South African football infrastructure, despite the "teething problems" experienced so far.

“I knew all along that it wasn’t going to be a smooth ride... but I am willing, on behalf of the venue authority, to take the shots on the nose now because we need to get this right,” Grobbelaar said. 

“We can’t go into the derby where we allow illegitimate ticket holders to occupy the venue and we leave legitimate ticket holders outside. 

"The user-friendliness of the platform and how you can easily purchase on the platform and transfer tickets are some of the positives of this system," he concluded.,