Massive police recruitment drive for 2010 World Cup

November 22, 2008

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – South Africa’s police authorities have launched a massive recruitment drive to increase the number of officers by 55,000 to 190,000 in time for the 2010 World Cup.

The South African security reinforcement programme revealed at a press conference here Saturday that 44,000 policemen and women will have already been recruited by the end of 2008.

There are also plans to increase the number of reserve officers from 45,000 to 100,000.

"Our claim that the World Cup will be safe is justified," said Danny Jordaan, president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, citing the fact that South Africa already welcomes nine million tourists to the country every year.

"If we are able to keep these tourists safe, why shouldn’t we be able to do it for 450,000 fans during the event?" he asked.

Safety concerns are rife prior to the event as South Africa is one of the most violent countries in the world, with around 50 murders committed there every day.

Rapes and violent robberies have also reached a level which other African nations recently classified as intolerable.

Global investment in the security initiative represents 1.3 billion rand (around 100 million euros), according to vice-minister for security Suzan Shabango.

Some 665 million rand will be spent on procuring special crowd control equipment, including unmanned surveillance aircraft, helicopters and 300 mobile cameras.

Written by: AFP

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