Safety and Security

The Government's Promise

The Government has assured the millions of fans who will be coming to watch the 2010 World Cup that they will be safe in South Africa. There are a number of prongs to South Africa’s safety and security plan:
• South Africa will be working closely with international agencies to gather intelligence
• there will be a focus on border security at ports of entry – including South Africa’s land, sea and air borders
• route security, specifically those leading from airports into the cities, will be a priority
• police are to divide the host cities into sections, with teams patrolling sections and focusing on FIFA headquarters, hotels, other accommodation establishments, the stadiums, fan parks, restaurants and tourist venues
• state-of-the-art information and communication military technology will be used as well as a fleet of nearly 40 helicopters
• a dedicated force of 41 000 officers will be deployed.

Some R665-million will be spent on procuring special equipment, including crowd-control equipment, crime scene trainers, unmanned aircraft, helicopters,
10 water cannons, 100 BMWs for highway patrol and up-to-date body armour. About 300 mobile cameras will also be used. There will be four mobile command centres at a cost of around R6 million each. These centres will feature high-tech monitoring equipment, which will be able to receive live footage from the airplanes and other cameras. These investments will continue to assist the police in their crime-fighting initiatives long after the World Cup is over.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) will spend R640 million on the deployment of 41 000 officers specifically for the event. Recruitment and event-specific training for this force is under way. The SAPS is on a massive recruitment drive to increase general police numbers by 55 000 to over 190 000 by 2009. The number of police reservists will also double before the FIFA World Cup, from 45 000 members to 100 000. So, by 2010 South Africa will have a significantly larger and well-trained police service. In addition, countries competing in the event will send their own specially trained police officers to assist with languages and cultural differences and to support the SAPS.

South Africa will have dedicated 2010 police stations within close proximity to each of the stadiums, as well as dedicated crime-investigation teams and
special courts to investigate and deal with all event-related crimes 24/7.

A 24-hour multilingual hotline will assist visitors requiring police or medical services. The Regional (SADC) Security Plan has been finalised and cooperation with several countries has been initiated. Border security and sea and air security strategies are in place.

South Africa submitted the comprehensive security plan for the 2010 World Cup to FIFA on 30 June 2008 – on schedule.

Track record

South Africa's track record in managing high-level events speaks for itself. The country has hosted several global gatherings, such as:

• World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002
• Non-Aligned Movement summit in 1998
• Rugby World Cup in 1995
• African Cup of Nations in 1996
• All Africa Games in 1999
• Cricket World Cup in 2003

For the WSSD, which was attended by about 37 000 international delegates, South Africa poineered a security model that has been aknowledged as a new international benchmark – and has since been adopted by the United Nations as its model for large events.

South Africa also contributed to the security plan for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, with the SAPS being asked to help train police in the Caribbean.