Events firm sued for free entry

Independent Newspapers

Pretoria - Organisers of a 2011 music event – The Joburg Experience – are claiming R809 000 from a company they hired to provide security services, allegedly resulting in more than 3 582 patrons getting in without paying.

Papers before the Pretoria High Court said more than 4 000 people attended the event at Sky Raider at Rand Airport in Germiston on April 2, 2011.

The company Schoems Investments claims Computicket issued 380 pre-paid tickets, while 38 tickets were bought at the gates on the day of the event. The rest of the music lovers got in free of charge and without valid tickets.

According to the court papers, the company entered into an agreement with Eyethu Events, in terms of which it would render certain services.

Eyethu was supposed to have supplied staff and security guards to man the entrances, conduct access control, do ticket checks and issue access-control armbands.

Schoems said one of Eyethu’s tasks was also to prevent patrons without tickets from getting in, and having a system in place to verify that all the tickets were valid.

Eyethu had to account to Schoems after the event in terms of the ticket sales at the gates, as well as all the pre-paid tickets presented by patrons.

Schoems said the agreement was that it would pay Eyethu R95 919 for their services, which it paid over prior to the event commencing.

It has claimed that Eyethu breached the agreement by allegedly failing to conduct proper access control at the gates, that it allowed patrons without valid tickets to gain access, and did not have structures in place to verify and audit access control.

Eyethu, in its plea, has denied any wrongdoing or that it allowed thousands of patrons to enter illegally. No further explanation was given.

The matter was postponed indefinitely.

Pretoria News