Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Despite the South African National Defence Force’s having no budget for the vital role it is expected to play in securing the Fifa Confederations Cup and 2010 soccer World Cup, security for the events is on track.

The claim by the police was made yesterday after a hi-tech police and military simulation, dubbed Exercise Shield 3, aimed at rehearsing a rescue of a group of “hostages” held at gunpoint in a hijacked|aircraft.

Using multibillion-rand security, including fighter jets and helicopters, heavily armed police from the special task force and national intervention unit and the SANDF’s special forces stormed the aircraft and “rescued terrified hostages” on the runway of Air Force Base Zwartkop.

Police officers said they were ready for anything.

“We are in control. Everything in relation to security is being controlled by us. The only thing we are not in control of is the weather,” said Director David Garnett, the SAPS senior operations planner for the 2010 tournament.

Describing the SAPS’s readiness to secure the tournaments, Garnett said it was all systems go.

This was despite Defence Minister Charles Nqakula’s having said last week that the defence force had yet to secure a budget for its role in helping to secure the competitions.

“Obviously our plans are work in progress and continuously being adapted as threat analyses change, but in the end we will be ready and… our members (will be) fully resourced to police the games,” said Garnett. To date no threats had been discovered in relation to the hosting of the tournaments.

Asked for his advice to tourists planning on visiting South Africa for the tournaments, Garnett said they should not be afraid.

“You will be safe whether you are in our stadiums, cities, game parks or on our streets. We have devised plans which will see an additional 35 000 to 40 000 police members taking to the streets, beaches and stadiums to ensure that spectators, officials and teams are safe.

“South Africa’s law enforcement and security agencies have been described as some of the world’s best when it comes to securing sporting events… and we are not going to let our reputation and image be tarnished.

“We are leaving nothing to chance and constantly ensuring through various international law enforcement agencies such as Interpol that we are abreast of any security related issues,” he said.

He added that South African authorities were not working in isolation when it came to the securing of the competitions. International partners were also helping.

“We have been given access to various databases, including those with the details of soccer hooligans, and want to warn those contemplating causing any trouble whatsoever, from riots to terrorist attacks, that they will be dealt with harshly.

“We have more than one security plan which is interoperable with other security initiatives to ensure that this is the most secure World Cup soccer tournament,” he said.

While declining to elaborate in detail on security plans, Garnett said they involved the use of rapid reaction units which would be assigned to each host city as well as major tourist destinations.

The units would include members of the SAPS special task force, which is trained in counter-terrorism, the national intervention unit, counter-assault team, area crime combating units and the SANDF’s special forces.

These teams will be constantly supplied, through both covert and overt surveillance measures, with intelligence on threats as well as information on potential suspects in the country.