DHL Stadium has dismissed claims spread on TikTok, and amplified elsewhere, that fans managed to get into the stadium without a valid ticket to Saturday’s match between the Springboks and Australia.

A video on TikTok by Morgan Newman on Saturday afternoon was captioned:

“People paid between 2k-5k for tickets only for me to arrive at the gates, and it’s a free-for-all all 😳”

It shows a throng of people entering through a big gate that has just been opened by security, purportedly just before kick-off, with allegations that tickets were not checked. The claim also spread to Facebook.

But it is misleading.

The DHL Stadium’s Marketing Department clarified that for approximately 15 minutes, while spectators were entering the stadium, their turnstiles struggled to read tickets.

This created a backlog at the gates. The authority of the Venue Operating Centre (VOC) then instructed the gates to be opened in order to alleviate the issue.

But this doesn’t mean it was a free-for-all.

The Marketing Department further stated that there are two security lines – the first is the “mag and bag” security check, where an initial check is done to ensure that guests do not have any prohibited items and have an event ticket.

After this check, guests are in a secured, fenced area and proceed to the turnstiles.

“Everyone who would have entered through the open gate did so from this secured, fenced area; therefore highly unlikely that someone would have entered the stadium without a ticket.”

There were also sporadic reports that some rugby fans were left disappointed when they got to their seat but it was already occupied.

DHL Stadium says there was a minor issue that was reported, of a duplicate ticket (two tickets for the same seat), but the issue was resolved satisfactorily.

Fake news aside, many people on social media could agree that the ticket prices for the game were completely unaffordable for ordinary fans.