Government leaders and soccer officials, still shocked at South Africa's worst sporting disaster, met yesterday to analyse the situation which led to the fatal stampede on Wednesday.
At least 43 people died during a league match between archrivals Orlando Pirates and Kaiser Chiefs at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
President Thabo Mbeki, who pledged that there would be full inquiry into the disaster within minutes of seeing it unfold on television, yesterday described the mood of the nation as one of deep distress.
His predecessor, Mr Nelson Mandela, who used sport as a vehicle for uniting the still divided South African people, exhorted South Africans to draw closer together to ensure that there would be no repetition of the disaster.
Apart from reviewing the security arrangements for the match and assessing whether they covered all contingencies and were rigorously implemented, political leaders and soccer administrators were bound to consider two things.
Firstly, whether the number of tickets sold was in excess of the capacity of the stadium. And secondly, whether spectators without tickets were able to pass the security system to fill the stadium and thereby leave ticket-holders outside the grounds feeling frustrated.
According to a South African Press Association report, 80,000 fans crammed into a stadium built to accommodate 62,000 people while 40,000 fans milled around angrily outside.
The tragedy started when fans outside the stadium broke down one of the gates and surged in well after the start of the game, Police Supt Chris Wilken said.
The concerted pressure to get in came after Pirates scored an equalising goal (the game was abandoned with the score 1-1) and the excitement inside the stadium drove spectators outside into a frenzy.
The main drive to get into the stadium was reportedly concentrated on gate four on the north side.
Once the barrier was breached, fans poured in, sucking in people around them.
Many of the victims found themselves crushed against the fence.
"There were many people pushing," Daniel Mgaga (9), who was hurt but escaped serious injuries, said.
"They didn't have tickets. I fell down and they started jumping on me."
Another victim who was lucky to escape being crushed to death said: "We had nowhere to go. We were trapped like rats."
The official death toll was put at 43 yesterday, four fewer than earlier estimates and one more than the previous most serious disaster, in 1991, when 42 people were killed during an earlier match between Pirates and Chiefs.
But several of those injured on Wednesday night were still in a critical condition, among them children.
The death toll could still rise.
Mr Robin Petersen, chief executive of the Professional Soccer League, under whose auspices Wednesday's fatal game was held, said yesterday: "We have to make sure it never, ever happens again."
The Pirates' coach, Mr Gordon Igbesund, said: "It was a catastrophe. But I don't believe that we can place the blame on any single person."
Chiefs' coach, Mr Mushin Ertugral, was to upset to talk to the media.
The SA Football Association, the Professional Soccer League and the rival soccer clubs, Pirates and Chiefs, yesterday started a fund for the families of the dead and injured spectators.