Canaan Mdletshe

Canaan Mdletshe

An unidentified Orlando Pirates supporter committed suicide on Saturday night at the stadium after his team went 1-0 down to Mamelodi Sundowns in an exciting SAA Supa 8 final in Durban.

Though details were still sketchy yesterday, Kings Park stadium manager Derrick Moorhouse said the supporter was sitting alone in one of the suites when he jumped to the level below after the referee, Andile "Ace" Ngcobo, blew the final whistle, sinking Pirates supporters' hearts.

"At this stage, we can't identify him because he had nothing showing his identity. All we know is that he was a Pirates supporter. He was alone at the stadium," Moorhouse said.

Mfanono Majola, head of security at the PSL, condemned the incident, but said that it happened in a private suite and they have no control over suites.

"It is a pity that such a thing happened," he said.

"Those in charge of security at the PSL have no control over suites. They are privately owned, and even have their own security guards. Fans buy their own suite tickets," Majola said.

Police spokesman, Superintendent Vincent Mdunge, said the man was middle-aged.

"It happened at about 10pm. He jumped from one level to the next and suffered serious head injuries. He died on the scene.

"It is not clear what led him to commit suicide, but we are still investigating and an inquest docket has been opened," said Mdunge.

Pirates spokesman Micky Modisane said: "At this stage we don't know where he came from, but I suspect he was either from Gauteng or KwaZulu-Natal. It is such an unfortunate and painful thing.

"Losing one supporter is a huge blow for us," he said.