Every year, the municipality hosts its Nyus’i Volume musical festival, which costs millions of ratepayers’ rands to host. While mega-star SA artists like DJ Tira, Micasa, Joocy, Professor and DJ Target no Ndile rocked the stage on Saturday, thousands upon thousands of fans cavorted in glorified chaos.

Not just at the Indoor Sports Complex grounds, but throughout the lower end of the CBD.

People were openly drinking in the streets for most of Saturday afternoon. Streams of people moving to the Indoor Sports Complex through Lyell and Murchison Street could be seen drinking openly.

Some taverns remained open, while several bottle stores shut their doors as they continued to see youngsters drinking.

This while municipal officials watched the show in their secure VIP area, separated from the common folk. Surrounded by private bodyguards, they watched the show in safety on big screen TVs, leaving youngsters as young as 13 to face the drunken mob unprotected.

And in the crowd, it was pure organised chaos! There was nowhere for at least one person to hide, who was brutally stabbed to death. His body was only found the following morning after the orgy of drink, violence and music was over.

Police arrested 32 people. The arrests included 3 for assault, 1 for motor vehicle theft, 1 for attempted housebreaking, 4 for drunk driving, 12 for public drunkenness, and 1 for possession of a stolen vehicle.

Anyone attempting to get near the VIPs were swiftly dealt with…

For most, the evening was really a case of pot luck whether you lived or died and whether you went home with your virginity intact or not.

For many, the night was fun and exciting, and a welcome break from the poverty they live in on a daily basis. A chance to see top DJs and dance the night away. While the concept is noble, it was the municipality’s job to ensure the safety of all throughout town and not just their own people.

The questions the municipality must answer are simple:

Where were the public safety roadblocks one would expect to see on an evening such as this?

Where was the large police presence one would expect to see?

Why was no action taken to prevent public drinking throughout the afternoon?

And lastly, the most important. If the event was so “SAFE”, why did the VIPs need to be separated from the crowd by fences and armed guards.

“While weaving through traffic on Saturday afternoon, I noted hundreds of people walking in the streets, openly drinking. I saw no police at all,” said former Ladysmith resident Quintus Nienaber, who was in town for the evening.

According to Captain Charmaine Struwig, Ladysmith SAPS deployed extra police officers from throughout the district/cluster.