Job seekers who attended the A Day of 1000 Opportunities employment-seekers event at Athlone Stadium yesterday (16 April), described the event as “a waste of time and money.”
According to reports, about 25 000 people attended the day, hosted by CapeBPO and supported by the City of Cape Town, which offers a pathway for job-seeking youth into the contact centre industry.
The city said in a statement Police Public Order Policing made use of a stun grenade to maintain crowd control outside the stadium.
Waste of time
A job seeker, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “We were queuing for two to three hours outside the gates. When we entered the stadium, we were seated and told we must register on SA Youth platform and then told we are done because there’s too many people. It was a waste of time and money.”
The job seeker said chaos erupted as thousands of job hopefuls forced entry through the gates after “queuing for hours”.
“People got hurt during the stampede. Police used teargas to disperse the crowd. There was no order. We went looking for jobs but went home injured.”
Emergency services was on site
The City said in a press statement attendees began queuing at the stadium in the early hours of the morning to be screened for possible job opportunities with the City’s contact centre partners.
It said emergency services was on site throughout the day.
“It is regrettable that a few people sustained injuries during the day due to overcrowding, but were all immediately assisted with medical care. Officials from the City, CapeBPO and the various companies processed applications inside the stadium in an orderly fashion.
“The City’s law enforcement, police and other safety and security personnel remained on site to ensure the safety of all residents and officials in attendance,” read the statement.
Constable Ndakhe Gwala, provincial police spokesperson, said Athlone police have no record of the incident.
According to the City, job seekers can still register their details online Job Vacancy – SAYouth and CapeBPO officials will process their applications.
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