Tempers flare over hats
2009-12-04 17:13
Cape Town - A metro police vehicle was used to evacuate boxes of giveaway MTN hats after fans' tempers flared at Cape Town's Long Street draw festival on Friday.
Festival goers had queued, some claimed for over an hour, for the floppy yellow soccer-ball style hats.
However tempers rose over the slowness of the handouts, and metro and SA police intervened in a bid to calm things down.
When the young men giving away the hats moved the boxes a few meters away to give themselves more room, the queue dissolved into an angry mass.
"Please leave - we're not handing out caps any more," said one of the young men, who declined to give his name or say who he worked for. "We are not handing out caps today at all."
"We've been standing here for an hour and a half," shouted one angry fan.
"I'm really sorry. I'm sorry you had to wait," said the young man.
Despite his entreaties, and the urgings of a senior policeman, dozens of fans refused to leave.
Eventually a metro police van reversed through the crowd and the boxes and young men were bundled into the back and taken out of the cordoned-off festival area.
"We've been standing in the sun for so long," said hatless city centre worker Wilma Boltman.
"I sacrificed my lunch hour to stand in the queue for the caps.
"I'm disappointed because I wanted to show my commitment, and now what can I have to prove I've been here?"
- SAPA