The authorities are ready to make sure that the World Cup netball tournament, which starts in Cape Town on Friday, runs smoothly and without any untoward incidents.
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints), which consists of various government departments, led by the police, the South African National Defense Force (SANW) and the State Security Agency (SSA), has plans ready to ensure the safety of the netball players and visitors .
“A priority committee under the auspices of NatJoints working closely with Netball SA, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the City of Cape Town’s Directorate for Safety and Security met regularly with relevant role players to develop the security plan for the World Cup Netball Tournament. developed,” confirms Brig. Athlenda Mathe, police spokesperson.
“This essential security approach is to establish security measures, limit the impact of any incidents that occur through contingency planning and limit the likelihood of incidents occurring before, during and after the netball tournament.”
The security plan includes plans to ensure the teams’ general safety as well as safety at their accommodation, the routes travelled, city security, safety at the venues and crowd management.
“We maintain a high visibility of police officers on foot and vehicle patrols during the tournament. The presence of law enforcement officers for the duration of this World Cup will serve to enhance day-to-day policing in all the identified areas.”
Traffic disruption can be expected in the vicinity of the Cape Town International Convention Center (Kiks), where the tournament will take place from today until August 6, given the large number of delegates attending. Motorists are advised that some streets around the center will either be closed or the flow of traffic will be restricted for the duration of the netball tournament.
Only accredited persons and vehicles will be allowed inside restricted areas. “Therefore, people who have not yet been accredited, including the media, are requested to make the necessary arrangements to obtain their accreditation.”
A few days ago, the captain of the Jamaica netball team, Jhaniele Fowler, took to social media to raise her concerns about safety after the player’s money was stolen from her purse in the hotel where the team is staying.
She wrote on Instagram that she does not feel safe in South Africa.
NatJoints confirmed during a media conference on Thursday that the incident had not been reported and that an investigation could not be launched without a statement from Fowler.
JP Smith, the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, says the city is aware of the alleged theft and says they are waiting for further details about the incident.
According to Smith, the city’s law enforcement agencies, metro police and disaster risk management center and fire and rescue services will be on standby along with the police.
“Apart from personnel deployed as part of the event security plan, this deployment also includes 100 additional law enforcement personnel who were deployed to the Cape Town city center a year ago, as well as the 70 members of the tourism security unit, which is funded by the provincial government,” said Smith.
“As part of the city’s contributions, vehicle and foot patrols have been deployed, vehicle checkpoints have been established, the use of our CCTV network has been made available to monitor the event and ongoing law enforcement will take place.”
According to Smith, the netball tournament is a major economic investment and if it goes well, it could attract future major events to the city.
While the city is using so many resources to secure the event, they are also calling on the public to help by reporting any incidents to the city’s public emergency communications center by contacting 021 480 7700.
