The issue of the prevalence of fraudulent tickets, which has led to security concerns at big matches, has prompted immediate action from Stadium Management South Africa.
SMSA will, with effect from March 1, have Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Prates matches at FNB Stadium and Orlando Stadium handled by a different ticket service company – Open Tickets – replacing TicketPro.
This is only for these two venues, which are managed by SMSA.
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The chaos which defined the gates at the Soweto Derby is what has prompted the authorities to react after over 100 000 fans went into FNB when only 87 000 tickets were made available.
"(There has been) An increase in the amount of fraudulent tickets and access control problems at the venues, especially with sold-out fixtures," says Bertie Grobbelaar, the SMSA boss.
"Now, with the two clubs that use SMSA-managed venues as their home base, we are exploring options over the last season-and-a-half to enhance the accessibility of tickets and fan experience to make it easier to purchase to get into the venue and to curtail the prevalence of fraudulent tickets.
"The plan was always to implement a new ticketing system at the start of the 2025/26 season.
"Unfortunately, with the derby on February 1, it became evident that we need to accelerate that process.
"In debriefing sessions internally with the venue operating centre, the PSL and other stakeholders, we identified two issues that contributed towards the problems we have.
"One was fraudulent tickets and the second was scanning issues at the entry points and, coupled with the scanning issues, there was the issue of human error and human maleficence with personnel.
"In some instances, there's people working together and taking bribes to let people in.
"Let me be brutally honest today and for the first time disclose the numbers.
"At the derby with 87 000 capacity, we had an excess of 100 000 people inside the venue and we know that because we installed a secondary counting system at the turnstiles.
"So, in our discussions, we said as the venue authority we have an obligation towards the clubs and fortunately we have two clubs using our venues as partners and not visitors.
"We joined hands and said collectively, we owe it to the fans and general public, sponsors and the PSL to make sure we put measures in place to mitigate this.
"So, it is a strange time to do so with big fixtures coming up, but we made the decision to accelerate the ticketing system at the venues we manage, FNB and Orlando, with immediate effect.
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"So, from the 1st of March, we will have a new ticketing partner and a new ticketing system, and new ticket purchase options," says Grobbelaar.
The new ticket service provider will have tickets with security features, instead of mere till slips, with improvements at access points.
"The process to purchase will be made available," says Grobbelaar.