SA police 'up for 2010 challenge'
28 June 2006
The SA Police Service (SAPS) will be more than capable of ensuring the safety of spectators, players and officials at the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.
That's the view of South Africa's deputy national police commissioner, Andre Pruis, currently in Germany as part of an SA observer group at the 2006 World Cup.
Speaking to The Star on the weekend, Pruis said that while the World Cup was a massive event, South Africa had pulled off a number of major international events without incident. "I've got no doubt from a safety point of view that we can handle [2010]," he said.
South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, and the 2003 Cricket World Cup - and according to Pruis, "we can teach the world a few things.
"The security blueprint we employed at the World Summit ... is now employed at all United Nations events, and South Africa is beginning to play a leading security role in the world," Pruis told The Star.
Pruis, who heads up South Africa's joint security operations and intelligence structure for 2010, said he had learnt a lot while on street patrol with the German police, "but I've also pointed out a few things to them that we employ back home. They have acknowledged that these are things they could have implemented here."
Pruis said the South African Police Service would "definitely consider" inviting English "bobbies on the beat" to help keep potentially volatile British football fans on their best behaviour, as the German police have done.
South Africa, he added, might even go one step further and ask police from other countries to join the SAPS in keeping the peace at the 2010 tournament.
At the same time, Pruis emphasised that the SAPS would be more than up to the task of monitoring and controlling the crowds themselves.
State-of-the-art mobile command vehicles and helicopters, capable of transmitting video footage live to police commanders on the ground, had already been budgeted for, he told The Star.
Speaking to the Saturday Star earlier this month, Pruis said that concentric rings of security would be in place around the stadiums hosting 2010 matches - with both plainclothes and uniformed police officers stationed in bars and restaurants near the venues to curb potential outbreaks of violence.
Pruis heads up a 2010 security team that embraces South Africa's defence force, police, intelligence, prosecuting authorities and correctional services, as well as home affairs and customs.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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