SA Police intends to keep up the momentum

While security cannot be sustained at World Cup level police will not let crime go back to normal

Senior police officials say the crime situation in the country will not be given a chance to go back to where it was before the 2010 World Cup.

“Policing cannot be on the same scale as it was happening as during the tournament but definitely crime can't go back to beyond or at the same level as it was happening before the World Cup,” Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Thursday.

Minister Mthethwa said government was determined to take the best practices and lessons learned during the biggest ever sporting event forward, to safeguard the country’s citizens and visitors who are now more likely to come to the country, after the tournament. 

He said equipment acquired for the World Cup would benefit ongoing policing, adding that police will now tackle crime head on and smartly.

Police officers deployed in cities and townships during the event would stay there while major roads and highways would be patrolled by police vehicles.

The World Cup saw a high visibility of police officials, with 40 000 new, well-trained police officers incorporated into the police force. These recruits will remain on the force.

Official data indicates that there were 1 002 case dockets opened for investigation around the country, during the world cup.

Of these, 558 cases have been finalised and 387 are still under investigation.

There were 447 arrests made and of these 266 where South African citizens while 181 were foreign nationals. 

In terms of World Cup rights protection cases, that being ticketing and counterfeit goods related cases, a staggering R45.8 million worth of goods were seized.

During investigations 78 cases dockets were opened and 106 persons were arrested. Most of the cases were opened in Gauteng (50) and the Eastern Cape with 11.

Also addressing the briefing, Police Commissioner Bheki Cele said the police force intended to keep up the momentum.

“While policing cannot be sustained at the level it had been during the tournament, police would maintain efforts to keep the country safe,” he said.

Government hopes to increase the number of police officials to 200 000 in the 2011/12 period.

Police management are to meet in Mpumalanga at the end of the month to plan the way forward after the soccer tournament.

Courtesy BuaNews
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