South Africa will beef up security for tourists for the 2010 Soccer World Cup to ensure visitors are shielded from the country’s notoriously high crime rates, the country’s tourism chief said on Wednesday.
South African Tourism chief executive Moeketsi Mosola said the plan included provisions for victim support and a 24-hour multilingual emergency hotline linked to a satellite global-positioning system to enable the police or medical services to pinpoint a caller’s exact location.
”In the case of an attack or you are a victim, you call in and tell us where you are. We can send emergency services if that’s what you need, or if it’s to be able to be in contact with you to guide you to safety,” Mosola told Reuters.
The first African country to host the tournament, South Africa is expecting up to 3,5-million people to take part in the month-long event, with 360 000 of them foreigners.
But the continent’s economic powerhouse, which has among the world’s highest incidence of murder and rape, is battling perceptions that it is an unsafe destination, particularly in poor townships.
In November 2005 a bus carrying a group of German tour operators on a fact-finding mission was held up in Khayelitsha township outside Cape Town.
World soccer body Fifa has nevertheless deviated from previous tournaments and allowed South Africa to extend accommodation beyond traditional hotels to include game lodges as well as graded bed and breakfasts and guest houses in some township areas.
No ‘no-go’ areas
”There are no no-go areas in this country … We shall leave no place to be ruled by thugs in South Africa and that’s the point we are trying to say,” Mosola said.
”Part of providing a true South African travel experience is about having access to townships, because that’s where our people basically live and tourism and the township experience is part of South Africa’s positioning and offering.”
South Africa has pledged to fight crime ahead of the World Cup and officials have said they expect 195 000 uniformed police officers and 320 000 private security personnel to be on hand when the matches begin.
The matches will take place in 10 stadiums across South Africa and the final will be decided in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium with a capacity of 95 000.
Mosola said steadily increasing tourist numbers showed South Africa was turning around a situation in which millions of potential tourists and billions of rands in revenue were lost because of negative safety perceptions.
A 2005 government document showed that across eight key markets — including the United States, Britain, Germany and China — 22,25-million potential travellers did not consider South Africa over a five-year period because of security issues.
”Come 2010 I have no doubt South Africans will be on site to give a world-class travel and tourism experience with a high level of friendliness and warmth,” Mosola said.
”But most importantly we will ensure, not only that our tourists are safe and secure, but also that our people … can enjoy the beautiful game of soccer in a very safe and secure environment.” — Reuters