A global television audience estimated at around 700 million people tuned in to watch the FIFA 2010 World Cup draw that took place at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) on Friday 4 December. With the City and its preparations firmly in the international spotlight, a key focus point was the level of security provided by the local and national authorities who, in addition to catering for more than 30 FIFA dignitaries also had to contend with the influx of team delegations, celebrities and tens of thousands of excited fans who wanted to be as close to the action as possible. So far as the World Cup is concerned, this was probably as close to the real thing as the country will get before 11 June 2010.

Pasco's TravelSafe security team was deployed for the week in support of a number of VVIP clients and celebrities attending the event, and are able to provide a first-hand account of the level of preparedness shown by the Mother City. In this feature, we consider a number of factors that will determine the overall success of FIFA 2010 and the extent to which Cape Town impressed or disappointed on those criteria.

Commenting first hand on overall security aspects of the event hosted in Cape Town, Pasco CEO George Nicholls noted security capacity and capability was vastly improved than that provided during the mid-year Confed Cup. “With the South African Police Service assuming overall responsibility for the event, it was clear that the lessons learnt from the mid year event had been taken on board. The Police provided a capable and very professional level of service. It was encouraging to see that security was taken extremely seriously and the attention to detail, such as the provision of adequately trained resources and well informed, experienced police officers at key points was well received.”

Counter-Terrorism

As we have noted in previous feature articles, the threat of a terrorist attack directed against FIFA 2010 and associated events does not rank highest in terms of probability but it remains the key security concern because of the impact that a terrorist strike would have on the event. South African government authorities were therefore at pains to reassure the country (and the world) that a tight security cordon would be thrown around Cape Town for the World Cup Draw. The fact that no incident occurred can of course be taken as an indicator that the security preparations were adequate, but there will no doubt be those who would reason that a concerted and well-planned terrorist attack would have created extreme chaos despite all of the security preparations put in place. The reality, in this regard, is that any event at any venue in the world is to some extent vulnerable to persons determined to disrupt it and inflict civilian casualties. It simply is impossible to secure every public area, short of preventing the fans from participating in the event – which in itself would be a major symbolic victory to  terrorists.

So far as preparations in Cape Town were concerned, our opinion is that the fundamentals were all delivered on: key areas were locked down, a restricted airspace imposed and effectively controlled, and potential threats dealt with quickly and effectively. Our liaison with the police authorities suggested that there was an impressive collation and management of intelligence, which is vital to the prevention of terrorism. Behind the scenes, disaster response and management teams were briefed and prepared. Importantly, all of this was accomplished without creating the impression that one was in a war zone or police state, which allowed for a festive atmosphere to prevail throughout the week.

Taking all of these factors into account, we give the City a score of 9/10 for its counter-terrorism preparations.

Crime Prevention

Relatively few serious crime incidents were reported during the event. Reports that two foreign television crews were robbed in the City were however disturbing. Although both crews graciously conceded that the incidents could have happened anywhere in the world, inevitably the question that is begged is whether the City deployed sufficient police resources to ensure adequate patrols of all major public areas and tourist attractions, in addition to securing the official event venues. While we must concede that our primary focus was on the official event areas, our sense during the week was that elsewhere in the City there was perhaps too much reliance on electronic surveillance (fixed and airborne cameras), which is of limited deterrent value when it comes to preventing opportunistic crime. Unfortunately, we anticipate that television crews and photographers could be targeted during FIFA 2010 because of the relatively high value of their equipment and the authorities may need to consider steps to improve general crime prevention in the host cities.

On a positive note, we found all of the police and traffic authorities that we encountered to be friendly and willing to help wherever possible.

We give the City a score of 7/10 on general crime prevention during the week.

Accreditation

From what we observed and based on comments provided by numerous dignitaries, several hiccups occurred with the accreditation process. Although many of the problems were the result of late applications for accreditation, this is in the nature of major events and it is evident that the event organisers will need to factor late and last-minute applications into their planning for FIFA2010. It should however be accepted that organisers are faced with the difficulty of balancing ease of process with ensuring adequate security, and the security checks required before issuing accreditation cannot simply be done on a while-you-wait basis. While we believe that much of the criticism directed against organisers for the problems encountered with accreditation may be justified, we cannot fault the enthusiasm of the many volunteers who worked late into the night attempting to ensure as smooth a process as possible.

We give the City a score of 6/10 for the efficiency of the accreditation process.

Hospitality

If there were any doubts ahead of FIFA 2010 that South Africa as a nation was fully behind the country hosting the World Cup, Cape Town quickly put those concerns to rest. Visitors to the city were welcomed with genuine warmth and enthusiasm, be it in the Waterfront Hotels or in the townships such as Khayaletsha. Given that the bringing together of diverse communities through the shared passion of football is the ultimate social dividend of the World Cup, we cannot fault the City for showing its best face to the world.

10/10 on hospitality.

The New Airport

The new departures section of Cape Town's International Airport was opened in time for the event. Certainly a vast improvement on the congested domestic departure terminal that had serviced the airport for many years but a few grumbles were heard about the fact that after passing through the security check-points the only restaurants are at the far end of the terminal, leaving some passengers with a long walk back to board their flights. There were also signs of a few teething problems with boarding procedures, but these should be ironed out by June 2010.

7/10 for the airport, but we expect some improvement in coming months.

General Comment

On the whole, the FIFA 2010 World Cup Draw was a major milestone on the way to the main event and for the most part Cape Town did not disappoint. The key challenge ahead for organisers and security providers will be to ensure that the intensity of the 2-day event in Cape Town can be sustained for a full four weeks in 2010.