By Barbara Cole and Ayanda Mhlongo
The stampede that broke out at the start of a mass recruitment day could have been prevented if police had "fulfilled their undertaking to control the outside area", uShaka Marine World said on Thursday night.
Trouble erupted after three busloads of applicants were dropped off at the front of the long queue snaking around the Durban Exhibition Centre (DEC) on Thursday.
But police said that if they had not opened the gates, the situation would have been far worse.
Fearing the latecomers were planning to jump the queue, which had begun forming nine hours earlier, job-seekers at the front "went berserk" and began pushing forward, according to witnesses.
"You could hear people screaming that they were dying," said one man, who had queued from 10pm the night before.
With the pressure mounting and people at the front being crushed against the barrier, a gate was opened and the crowd rushed through, over-running recruiters waiting to take their details and trampling 70 applicants.
Ten ambulances rushed casualties to Addington and King Edward VIII hospitals. All had minor injuries and were discharged, except for two patients who were admitted to Addington with fractures and a pregnant patient who was kept at King Edward VIII for observation. She was said to be in a stable condition on Thursday night.
Three hundred jobs were up for grabs at uShaka, which opens at the end of April, and more than 10 000 hopefuls from all over the province turned up.
Russell Stevens, the chairman of uShaka Island Management, said that every precaution been taken to prevent such an incident.
uShaka management had known that thousands would apply for jobs - they had been expecting about 6 000 - and had warned the various police units, the SAPS, the Public Order unit and the Metro Police, including the mounted division, about the vast numbers expected.
This had been repeatedly emphasised at the many meetings with the police, he said.
"uShaka management were assured by the public order security agencies that crowd control would be maintained. It was their responsibility."
uShaka had arranged adequate security inside the centre, calling in a private security company. Fifty interviewers were waiting in a registration and pre-screening area in a marquee to check applicants had the right documents.
With 40 to 50 police in position and an armoured vehicle near the entrance, the first 50 applicants were admitted to the DEC without incident.
But then, when the three buses arrived and about 100 people got out at the front of the queue, "there was immediate unhappiness" among applicants at the entrance and the crowd began to edge forward to prevent the newcomers jumping the queue, Stevens said.
"Instead of the police dealing with it outside in Aliwal Street and telling the newcomers to move away, they moved the armoured vehicle out of the way and opened the gate, allowing people on to the premises en masse," said Stevens.
"Why on earth did they allow the buses to stop at the front of the queue?" Stevens asked in an interview.
The SAPS told uShaka representatives that they needed to open the gate to avoid injury to the people at the front.
Police spokesperson Captain Gugu Sibela said that once people started pushing to get in, the police "and a security officer" decided to open the gate to prevent injuries and damage to property. The situation would have been far worse had the gate not been opened, she said.
Once the crowds swarmed through, it was decided to collect the CVs and verify them later, rather than on the spot.
Now, uShaka is going to advertise in the press the names of candidates who will be invited for interviews.
However, all unsuccessful applications will be advised by letter.