Several people were pickpocketed and lost their phones during the rugby Test between Italy and the Springboks on Saturday. (Photo: Deon Ferreira) 
It is estimated that at least 100 people had their phones stolen during the rugby match last Saturday as pickpockets scored big at the packed Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, where the Springboks trounced Italy.
Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg confirmed that after the match, the Mount Road Police Station opened dockets for robbery, theft and theft from motor vehicles.
“SAPS Mount Road can confirm that there are complaints that were reported during the [ruby] event at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium,” Janse van Rensburg said. “Cases related to robbery, theft out of motor vehicles and theft were registered and are under investigation.”
Janse van Rensburg said, however, “crime statistics” would be released only quarterly.
Metro police chief Warren Prins said there were a “few cases” of pickpocketing.
Read more: Boks score big — and so do Nelson Mandela Bay businesses
A spectator who had her phone stolen, Nicole Botha, said she had reported the theft to the police. She said her phone was in her zipped handbag. After the rugby, they stayed on for a concert by Biggie.
“Five minutes later, when we wanted to go home, I realised my phone was gone. Someone was bumping against me the whole time, but it was very overcrowded and busy. When I told my friends that my phone was gone, one of them checked her bag, and her phone was also stolen at the same time.
“But after the rugby was finished, people were still coming into the stadium,” she said. “You had all of these people who paid to enter, and then afterwards anybody could come in.
She said she saw security guards forcing an elderly woman to throw away her chewing gum because no food was allowed. But it was clear that there were bigger security risks that had slipped through. “That was my experience of the first rugby game I attended,” she said.
Another victim of a phone snatching said her phone was stolen while they were waiting to enter the stadium. “I was … in the queue and chatting to my sister and her boyfriend. I was actually holding my phone, and I think that is how good they are. I had nothing to drink at this point. So I wasn’t drunk or anything.
“I was holding my phone next to my side. But at that time, as we tried to get into the stadium, I suddenly did not have my phone. Someone had snatched it out of my hand. We went to Vodacom on Sunday [and] at that branch, we were number 25 on the list of phones that had to be blocked,” she said.
“I noticed about 10 police officers on the grounds – but we didn’t see anybody outside where people were trying to get in,” she said. “It was frustrating to see that.”
Staff at cellphone shops at two major malls in Gqeberha, Baywest and Walmer Park, said they had more than 100 customers coming in on Sunday to block their phones.
At Walmer Park, staff at Cellucity said that about 50 customers had come in requesting SIM swaps and phone replacement after being robbed at the rugby, while MTN said that just over 30 customers had come in for the same reason. Cell C received about 10 requests. The bulk of these customers had differing stories of how their phones were stolen.
At Baywest Mall, staff at Vodacom said five customers had been in to replace stolen phones — all pickpocketed at the rugby. Tian Willemse from Cellucity Baywest noted a surge of around 20 people, saying, “We don’t usually get anyone on Sundays, so this was unusual and definitely linked to the weekend’s events.”
Even when informed of these statistics, SAPS Captain Siphokazi Mawisa said they would not announce the number of dockets they had opened.
“We do not give stats (number) of cases opened, but SAPS confirmed that there were cases opened during the rugby event at the Bay.”
Spokesperson for The Mandela Bay Development Agency (which hosted the match), Nicole Klokow, referred all inquiries to the police. Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the municipality “strongly condemned any acts of criminality experienced by the rugby fans during the test at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium”. DM