Jews involved in Heritage Day festival brawl

PETER FELDMAN

A number of Jewish party-goers who attended the Heritage Day music festival, Sounds Like Summer, in the James and Ethel Grey Park in Melrose last Saturday, were rushed to hospital with injuries after a brawl broke out among the crowd.

A source told Jewish Report that Hatzolah took people to hospital, including a woman with a serious head injury and a security guard, when fighting erupted between a group of party-goers and security personnel.

Eye witnesses whom Jewish Report contacted refused to comment, one saying they had been told not to speak to the media, and another saying she had been threatened and told to keep quiet about the incident.

On social media, however, numerous allegations were levelled at the organisers. According to a report in a Johannesburg daily newspaper, these posts were later deleted to “calm down” the situation and because the organisers claimed these accusations were false.

There were also allegations on Facebook in which the organisers and their security team were blamed for the violence and that security guards threw the first punches.

Festival organiser Jason Saus would not comment to Jewish Report and referred the matter to his lawyer, David Swartz. Swartz said a statement had been issued and could be found on Facebook.

The statement acknowledged that a fight had broken out during the festival. It was caused by “a group of people who are notorious for causing trouble at events and nightclubs (and who) kept on causing problems with patrons and security”.

The statement added that security personnel kept on calming the situation down and asking patrons not to cause trouble. But they refused to listen. The situation then escalated to a degree where the trouble-makers were asked to leave. They agreed but while being escorted out, became aggressive and refused to leave.

In the altercation that ensued, one of the trouble-makers smashed a bottle over the head of a security guard. While security was attempting to disarm him, a massive fight broke out between the trouble-makers and security personnel.

Many people were injured during this melee. One anonymous source said multiple stab victims spent the night in ICU and alleged their wounds were caused by “bouncer brutality”.

Most of the slew of allegations on Facebook by party-goers have been denied by the organisers who, in their statement, praised the security company, Olympus Protection Services, for their “‘professionalism and integrity”, adding that the organisers did “everything in their power to ensure that everything ran smoothly on the day”.

The event was brought to a halt after the incident. Black Coffee, the main attraction, did not perform.

A police investigation is underway.