2010 World Cup patrol vehicles get to work

Sandton – Some of the vehicles to be used by the South African police to patrol the highways and freeways during the 2010 Fifa World Cup can already be seen doing rounds on major South African highways.

South African Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo said more vehicles will be added to the currently running fleet of patrol cars.

“They [the vehicles] will be used mainly for our highways and freeways for route patrol and for quick response, we have other vehicles that’s gonna complement them we have Golf 5s GTIs etc,” he said.

The high-performance BMW’s are fitted with the latest crime-combating equipment to help police deal with freeway offences during the tournament.

Two of these vehicles are on display at the 2008 Soccerex event at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Senior Superintendent Naidoo said police personnel who will be operating these vehicles during the 2010 World Cup have been provided with advanced driving training skills.

The vehicles will also be used for police linkage between the Host Cities.

“These BMW will be used from here to Bloem, Bloem to PE, PE to Cape Town to link our services,” he said.

The vehicles were used during the staging of the Fifa Confederations Cup Draw on Saturday at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. They are also being used for special operations.

Naidoo said efforts are being made to spare these vehicles for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

“We are trying to preserve them for the Confed Cup and for 2010, we will get all our vehicles before the end of March next year as they are still in the procurement phase,” he said.

South Africa has invested over R1.3-billion towards securing the 2010 World Cup. The government says that this investment will continue to assist police in their crime fighting efforts long after the 2010 Fifa World Cup.