SA promises the planet a safe World Cup

JOHANNESBURG (AP): Saddled with high crime, fear of terrorism and sceptics around the globe, South Africa promises it's ready to keep the peace through an exciting World Cup.

The country's security forces are backing up the pledge with an impressive show of hardware and muscle, and an even flashier display of rhetoric. But whether it'll be enough to calm tourists' fears and maintain order is a major question as the opening game approaches on June 11.

"Ours is a daunting task," police minister Nathi Mthethwa said recently. "But if we work together we shall succeed. Failure is not even part of our vocabulary."

Maybe, but the concern is real. And the capture in Iraq of Saudi citizen Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani, who told The Associated Press he was plotting an attack against the Dutch and Danish teams at the monthlong tournament, emphasised that South Africa's security forces will be severely tested.

"Even the smallest, most insignificant target will work for terrorists because the world's attention is on South Africa," terrorism expert Anneli Botha at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria said. "And al-Qaida know they have to stay relevant."

The country's top police officer, national commissioner Bheki Cele, said preparations had been given the "thumbs up" by international security agencies.

The security force includes 44,000 officers from the national South African Police Service (SAPS) who will be dedicated solely to the World Cup. An extra 10,000 personnel from metropolitan forces will boost the total force to 54,000.

"We won't be ready today and we won't be ready tomorrow, because we were ready yesterday," Cele said at a police show of force, where some of the US$90 million worth of new security equipment was paraded. The hardware included water cannons, helicopters, speedboats, jet skis, new high-performance police cars and heavy-duty emergency rescue vehicles.

"I can't begin to explain to you how detailed our plans are," South African police spokesman Colonel Vishnu Naidoo said in an interview. "We have quite simply made provisions for any eventuality."

Countrywide police operations will be controlled from a single room, the National Joint Operation Center in Pretoria, just north of Johannesburg.

Naidoo, one of few officials authorised to speak on World Cup security plans, said officers would be "clearly visible" at air and seaports, rail and bus stations, on roads between major cities and popular tourist destinations, and at the 10 World Cup stadiums, as well as team hotels and training camps.

security perimeters

Naidoo said match venues will be protected by concentric security perimeters that will get progressively tighter. There will be a traffic-free zone between 200 and 500 metres from each stadium and venues will be "locked down" at least 24 hours before match kick-off, according to Naidoo, with only essential staff allowed access.

Vehicles coming in will be heavily screened by explosives and forensic experts.

Security perimeters, with their heightened police presence, will extend out about 800 metres in inner-city venues such as Johannesburg's Ellis Park. They will go further for venues such as Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Stadium, in the less built-up North West province.

The tournament's local organising committee is responsible for security inside stadiums with help from police, with the aim to create a festive and family mood for all spectators, though everyone will be closely watched.

Local organising committee security manager Mlungisi Ncame said fans will be taken through a baggage search, a visual ticket check and then an electronic scanner where their ticket will be verified and their identity checked against the ticket.

Ncame said individual fans could be tracked as all venue seats are linked electronically to the stadium's main control room, the Venue Operational Center.