Global Citizen Fest: 'Police didn't respond quickly or adequately' admits Cele

6 December 2018 11:52 AM

After many concertgoers were mugged and harassed by criminals after Sunday’s Global Citizen Festival event, mostly near the Sasol garage, Police Minister Bheki Cele held a press briefing on Wednesday.

At the briefing, the minister denied allegations that there weren't enough policemen at the concert on Sunday.

To discuss the concert and the briefing, the minister speaks to Bongani Bingwa on #702Breakfast.

READ: Cele denies lack of cops at Global Citizen Festival

Cele says the briefing was aimed at explaining to the public the planning procedure carried out for the concert.

Indeed we have conceded that Sasol Garage that was plus minus three kilometres away from the venue was never part of the planning of the concert.
— Bheki Cele, Minister of Police

Additionally, he says there were unforeseen issues that contributed to the unfortunate results on the day.

The complete collapse of traffic management and the collapse of cellphone network coverage. And indeed police didn't respond quickly, adequately and promptly in those unforeseen happenings at Sasol Garage.
— Bheki Cele, Minister of Police

Cele says the events at the Sasol garage would not have happened if traffic management and cellphone network coverage had not collapsed. He does admit that the police didn't respond on time.

Listen below to the full interview:

This article first appeared on 702 : Global Citizen Fest: 'Police didn't respond quickly or adequately' admits Cele

Written by: Matshepo Sehloho