After South Africa had been named as the host country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in 2004, and the euphoria had calmed down, the reality of the magnitude of the planning involved in this event kicked in. A host country has to comply with FIFA’s requirements and the Local Organising Committee had its hands and diaries filled with deadlines to finalise proposals and plans, to get the ball rolling to host the event. Apart from the infrastructure upgrades that needed to start immediately, it was equally important to address the security associated with the event.

Compiled by Annalise Kempen

Information provided by Asst Comm Ben Groenewald

Guarantees

Any country wishing to host the FIFA World Cup has to deliver 17 guarantees to FIFA. In essence these guarantees are provided by various government departments and include access to South Africa; a supportive financial environment; intellectual property and marketing rights; safety and security; healthcare services; transport and telecommunications. These guarantees are so important that they were consolidated into the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Special Measures Act 11 of 2006 in September 2006, as per FIFA requirements. In addition, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Minister of Finance and the President of FIFA on 27 October 2006 that deals with tax matters for the hosting of FIFA events. This memorandum forms the basis for amendments to the Value Added Tax Act, Income Tax Act and the Customs and Excise Act (www.sa2010.gov.za).

FIFA and the international football community require these guarantees to be assured of a successful tournament. According to Guarantee 4.5 (Safety and Security) the Government undertakes to implement all security measures necessary to guarantee general safety and personal protection, especially at airports, inside and outside hotels, stadiums, training grounds, the International Broadcasting Centre, media centres, any official areas and other areas where accredited persons and/or spectators are present. In addition, the safety and security to the FIFA delegation, media representatives and all accredited persons before, during and after matches, and while travelling in the country is guaranteed.

The FIFA World Cup is regarded as the biggest sporting event in the world, even bigger than the Olympic Games, due to the number of spectators that usually visit the host country to support their teams, and due to the international media coverage that this event attracts. Although this is the first time that an African country has been chosen as the host country for this event, South Africa has the advantage of having hosted a number of international events without serious incident in the past, including:

Approximately 37 000 international delegates attended the WSSD in 2002 in Durban, and for this summit South Africa pioneered a security model that has been acknowledged as a new international benchmark. This model has since been adopted by the United Nations as its model for large events. In addition South Africa also contributed to the security plan for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, when SAPS was asked to assist to train police in the Caribbean.

In spite of South Africa’s experience in successfully hosting major international events in the past, the FIFA World Cup requires stringent security measures. South Africa therefore had to submit a security concept to FIFA for approval no later than two years before the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This comprehensive security plan was submitted - on schedule - on 30 June 2008.

Although this plan incorporates the best practices from previous events, it had to take the characteristics and the scale of the 2010 event into consideration. Among others, nine host cities with ten stadiums; fan parks; international and national Ports of Entry (airports, border posts etc); major routes; the different cities/venues (base camps) where the 32 international teams stay; and the public viewing areas have to be secured. This necessitated that Cabinet declare the 2010 FIFA World Cup a major event, as the event will be attended by a number of Heads of State; the magnitude of the event requires interdepartmental coordination and multi-departmental execution; the event cannot be managed by a single line function division or department; and the success of the event is of international interest. In addition, this security plan had to be based on the guidelines specified by FIFA, as well as on the security and safety practices of prior FIFA World Cups and other major international sporting events.

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) is held responsible for any safety and/or security incidents and/or related accidents and shall guarantee that no responsibility in this respect can be apportioned to FIFA. In practice this means that the relevant government departments, which include the Department of Police and the South African Police Service had to provide FIFA with identical consummations and guarantees.

The cost associated with the event’s security has to be borne by the LOC or more specifically, the relevant government department in the host country. The budget of R1.3 billion which the Department of Police and SAPS have received over the past few years to deal with preparations for the 2010 event, has been divided to procure special equipment, and to deploy more than 40 000 police officials prior to and during the event.

The policing of the event will be the responsibility of approximately 32 000 functional police members and an additional 10 000 reservists who will be pulled from their usual functional duties on local policing level. An additional 10 000 reservists will be on standby (1000 in every host city), ready for deployment, in case of a disaster. Other law enforcement agencies such as the Metro Police Departments and emergency services, fire, rescue and health will form the second line of defence.

Each of the nine host cities will have an interdepartmental reaction team consisting of members from the Special Reaction Forces, SAPS, SANDF, Metro Police, Traffic, Health and Emergency Services. Depending on the city’s risk profile. Members from the Special Task Force, National Intervention Unit and Counter Assault Team, will be on permanent standby should medium- to high-risk situations evolve.

In addition, our law enforcers will also be working closely with international agencies to gather intelligence on possible security threats. Bilateral agreements will be entered into with the participating teams’ countries whereby a number of their police officers, depending on the threat assessment, will be assisting the SAPS with the security of the team members and dealing with problematic fans. These agreements also make provision for the sharing of information regarding soccer hooligans for countries with such databases, in an attempt to prohibit these fans from entering South Africa before or during the event.

Approximately R665 million has been included in the security budget, and has been spent on the procurement of special equipment including crowd-control equipment, crime scene trainers, unmanned aircraft, helicopters, water cannons, BMWs for highway patrol and up-to-date body armour. Approximately 300 mobile cameras will also be used, and mobile command centres, featuring hi-tech monitoring equipment, which will be able to receive live footage from the aeroplanes and other cameras. Specialised training specifically to deal with crowd management, operations to deal with possible hostage situations and the recruitment of more police members also formed part of the South African Police Service’s preparations for the event.

The comprehensiveness of SAPS’ security preparations is commendable as it deals with virtually every aspect of the event - some will be discussed in future articles.

South Africans tend to be negative towards the large amount of money that has been spent on the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but one thing is for sure: These investments, especially in terms of the procurements made by the SAPS, will continue to assist the police in their crime-fighting initiatives long after the FIFA World Cup 2010 has been won.

Source:

http://www.sa2010.gov.za/ - accessed on 18 January 2010.