Special courts are planned for the 2010 Fifa World Cup to deal with offences related to the event, national police said on Wednesday.
”In the case of offences committed by visitors, these special courts will speedily resolve cases before their departure,” police Assistant Commissioner Peter Mathogwame told a media briefing in Pretoria.
He stressed that locals who found themselves on the wrong side of the law for World Cup Soccer-related misdemeanours would also find themselves in the docks of these special courts.
”Our courts are normally very busy,” he said. ”We cannot expect them to accommodate this overload.”
Mathogwame, who is on the national priority committee of the Soccer World Cup, said foreign police from countries participating in the event would help the estimated 160 000 local police to be trained for and deployed at venues.
He foresaw them being busy at matches in which their home countries were playing.
”The foreign police played a very important role in Germany [this year]. Where there were problematic supporters, those police already had information on them [the culprits].”
National intelligence would help police identify undesirable people. Mathogwame expected other countries to offer information on potential troublemakers from their data bases, or send delegates to provide it.
The permanent security structure to be in place to carry out the police’s mandate to Fifa, the world football body, would also be used for the preliminary draw in 2007, the final draw in 2009 as well as the national general election that year.
”And any other major event that we don’t yet know of,” Mathogwame added.
Police expect the 2010 Soccer World Cup to bring about 350 000 people to South Africa.
Mathogwame said private security personnel would also be involved, and the police would have a role in their training.
He added the Premier Soccer League matches were already being closely monitored to correct logistical and other flaws that could give rise to security problems.
Many security guards on duty around such matches had already been found to be inadequately trained, Mathogwame said. — Sapa