An address by North West MEC for Transport, Roads and Community Safety, Honourable Phenye Vilakazi, on the occasion of the Provincial Safety and Security Summit gala dinner held in Rustenburg

Programme directors
North West MEC of Sports, Arts and Culture, Mr Duma Ndleleni
Mayors from all parts of our beautiful province
Dikgosi tsa gaetsho tse di teng fano
Members of the Mayoral Committees responsible for safety
Other councillors from different municipalities
2010 Local Organising Committee representatives
CEO of the North West Parks and Tourism Board, Mr Charles Ndabeni
Mr George Khunou and your delegation from Royal Bafokeng Administration
South African Police Service representatives present today
Officials representing other organs of state
Civil society organisations present today
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

It is my pleasure to be part of this Provincial 2010 Safety and Security Summit - an event that is aimed at contributing to a safe 2010 FIFA World Cup. My presence and yours in this august occasion is history in the making, hence I am excited to be associated with this event. This and many other pre and post 2010 World Cup events will form part of the history and legacy which many generations to come will dearly appreciate and be proud of. So it is definitely exciting that our presence here is part of a broader collective that will be entrenched into the history books and achievements of South Africa as a relatively new democracy.

About ten years ago when the President of FIFA, Mr Sepp Blatter, opened a white envelope to pronounce the good news to billions of television viewers, radio listeners and internet enthusiasts, and in particular the FIFA family of football, that an African giant at the southern tip of our beautiful continent will host the globe's greatest sporting extravaganza, the 2010 World Cup, villages, townships and towns of our country were engulfed by an unprecedented bout of excitement, which vibrated across the African continent and the rest of the world simultaneously.

This excitement could have naturally and temporarily subsided over the years since the announcement but, as we have seen since this announcement, the challenges that go with hosting a tournament of this magnitude are forever increasing. It is this kind of challenge that has sustained the excitement among our people. And we must rest assured that these challenges will become even more complex as we approach the kick off day of the 2010 World Cup.

Programme director; allow me to say football is in the heart of the people of North West. The majority of our people regard this opportunity to host FIFA soccer games as a rare one and would want to cherish it and make sure it is registered in history books as a success.

When Mr Blatter opened the FIFA Congress in Sydney, Australia on 29 May 2008 he said something that touched many hearts of soccer lovers in the province.
He said: "With 260 million active participants and one billion people directly and indirectly touched by football, our game enjoys wonderful popularity worldwide and therefore football has a huge responsibility. We must make sure that the evils of our world do not come into football. Football is hope, football brings emotions. Let's build a better future."

To me and indeed most of the people of this province, this statement captures well the feeling everywhere in our country. As much as we know and appreciate the fact that a majority of our people would not want to spoil the privilege the world governing body has bestowed in us, we are pretty aware that there might be very few individuals who may want to spoil this privilege. It is therefore our duty to prevent them as their actions may be misconstrued as those of the general population of the country if they are allowed to occur.

As it happened with the criminal activities disguised as xenophobic attacks that have been taking place recently, it is clear that a small minority of criminals can dent the entire image of our nation.

Programme director, what I want to say is that the world is watching us as we progress towards hosting the spectacular soccer showpiece in 2010. The football industry and the world expect a lot from us. We should therefore refuse any possibility of us disappointing 1 billion 260 million people. The 2010 World Cup is an opportunity we should grab with both hands by putting our hands on the deck and work like it is business unusual.

According to a consulting firm Grant Thornton, the 2010 World Cup will pump around R21,3 billion into our country's economy, generating an estimated R12,7 billion in direct spending and creating an estimated 159 000 new jobs. The country's tourism industry will benefit from the estimated three million visitors expected during the tournament. The construction and engineering sector are expected to gain from a slice of the billions to be spent on infrastructure in the run up to the event.

More importantly, the indirect spin offs of an improved image abroad could have an even greater impact on the economy long after the event. Now all these are very impressive figures and scenarios but their realisation is dependent on one critical issue:

* The security of people and property

Whilst I am aware that our government has done and continues to do more to make the 2010 World Cup a trouble free and the most memorable tournament ever, let us not be victims of complacency. Remember one billion and 260 million people or even more, will be dependent on the positive collective role we are going to play in this two-day summit.

Recent developments such as the xenophobic attacks that I have mentioned earlier have generated doubts from our detractors about our security capacity to deal with security challenges. I want to promise all those who might have believed such perceptions, that we are more ready to deal with security challenges of hosting the 2010 World Cup than they imagine. May I remind the doubting Thomases of this world that South Africa has previously passed with distinction all tests of hosting major events. A few of such events come to mind:

* World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002
* Non-Aligned Movement Summit in 1998
* Rugby World Cup in 1995
* African Cup of Nations in 1996
* All Africa Games in 1999
* Cricket World Cup in 2003

A sample of our ability of securing big world events can be illustrated by way of an example. The World Summit on Sustainable Development I referred to earlier attracted more than 37 000 international delegates, a security nightmare for any state that does not have the necessary expertise and experience. At that time, South Africa pioneered a security model which has been acknowledged as an international benchmark and has since been adopted by the United Nations as a model for large events.

When the Caribbean hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup, our security experts including the South African Police Service, were called in to assist and their contribution was evident from the way the Cricket World Cup was organised. There are a number of prongs to South Africa's strategy of ensuring that all facets of the 2010 World Cup are secured and trouble-free. They include amongst others, the following:

* intelligence gathering
* securing borders
* patrolling
* sector policing
* technology usage
* employment of more police personnel
* dry run opportunity offered by the fifa confederations cup next year, and
* learning from other events

With all these and other security tactics, I am confident that South Africa shall emerge a victor over any 2010 World Cup security risks and as a province we will ensure that we play our respective role with distinction. I wish the North West 2010 World Cup Safety and Security Summit the best and as you will be continuing with your deliberation on security issues, remember it is more about R1 billion 260 million people who will be directly or indirectly affected by your deliberations.

Ke a leboga.
I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Transport and Roads, North West Provincial Government
27 June 2008