[imagesource: Facebook / PE Traffic Updates]

With talk of a third wave around the corner, and a possible return to alert level 2, these are not the sort of scenes you want to see.

Pandemic or no pandemic, there was chaos on the Summerstrand beachfront in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) on Saturday, as a large group gathered to attend the annual Skhothane Show.

According to Summerstrand Neighbourhood Watch chair Sean Tappan, who spoke with The Herald, the party kicked off at around 6:30PM, when there were an estimated 200 teenagers along the beachfront.

That number soon increased to around 1 000, with the crowd becoming increasingly unruly:

Tappan said the youngsters, who were all intoxicated, had become disruptive at about 9pm, throwing bottles, urinating and singing loudly.

A car guard had been found dead on the grass at the corner of Beach Road and La Rochelle Drive, where moments earlier a large group of youngsters had been seen running away.

Tappan said that the car guard was found lying face-down and without a pulse, and was dead before an ambulance had arrived.

Police said his death was not related to what transpired at the show.

This footage, shot by a concerned onlooker, shows the scale of the crowd:

Here’s another video:

What’s happening tonight in Qgeberha?? 😂 pic.twitter.com/j3mPE7e0hc

— Brittany ✨ (@Britt_jadie) March 27, 2021

Almost there – it’s Gqeberha.

Tappan said that neighbourhood watch had requested the help of police as the situation escalated, with police spokesperson Sandra Janse Van Rensburg saying that a report will be released in due course.

[source:herald]