2 July 2008
South Africa is well prepared to ensure the safety of the millions of tourists set to visit the country for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, says the South African Police Service.
The SA Police Service revealed details of its plans to secure the country’s skies, highways, stadiums, streets and accommodation venues this week, as part of a plan that will see the government spending a further R665-million on procuring state-of-the-art equipment and R640-million on the deployment of more than 41 000 police officers.
“I am happy to announce that our comprehensive security plan for the Fifa World Cup was submitted and it is in Zurich and I think Fifa will be satisfied with the security concept in general,” deputy national police commissioner Andre Pruis told reporters in Pretoria on Monday at the release of the country’s 2007/08 crime statistics.
“However, we still need to finalise the security plans for the areas and towns where the teams will be staying,” said Pruis, who is in charge of the country’s 2010 World Cup security.
He said the police had already begun event-specific training and simulation exercises for the tournament. They had also started procuring items for the event, including water cannons, body armour, mobile police stations, surveillance cameras, helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft.
Source: BuaNews
