3 June 2010
Programme director
Esteemed members of the Judiciary
Other members of the Legal Profession
Representatives of the media
Distinguished guest
Ladies and gentlemen
Allow me to take this opportunity to thank you all for attending this event, where we, as the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, announce the courts that have been dedicated to attend to matters of transgressions of law arising during the FIFA World Cup starting next week here in Johannesburg. We have come a long way as a nation from the time we bid to host this event, and already everyone can feel it is here! Just next week, the eyes of the whole world will be fixed on South Africa, as our own national team Bafana Bafana takes on Mexico and the rest of the world. Our people and the rest of the world will be treated to a football spectacular that is without precedence in the history of the tournament. One question that has been asked repeatedly is whether South Africa will be ready to host this mega event. Today, we came to add to the other pronouncements from across the South African spectrum that we are ready!
Ladies and gentlemen, this FIFA World Cup is by no doubt the biggest event we have ever hosted as a country, and this in itself speaks to the significance and high prominence of this sporting event world-wide. Hosting so many people from around the world will no doubt help stimulate our tourism industry. We could not have asked for a better time to invite our guests to also enjoy the hospitality of our country at large.
However, we also know this event in particular, and such events in general, unfortunately also attract criminals and hooligans from both within the host country’s population and the hosted countries. It is for this reason that in our planning as government and as the Local Organising Committee, we sought to draw synergy through our Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster, to ensure that this is a safe FIFA World Cup tournament.
The police department is fully ready to attend to any security challenges posed by this tournament. Likewise, as integral to the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster, we made preparations with regards to ensuring justice in the event that various matters warranting prosecution arise. Under ordinary circumstances, even foreign citizens who are subject to court processes are prosecuted within the host nation’s normal judicial processes. However, due to the influx of many people coming into our shores within the short space of nearly one month, and to add variety to the first FIFA World Cup to be held in Africa, it became clear that in order to avoid bottlenecks should instances warranting prosecution arise, we had to offer dedicated courts specifically for matters related to transgressions by visitors during the FIFA World Cup.
As part of our foreign policy stance of creating a better world and a better continent, our laws enjoy synchronisation with international laws or the laws of other countries, the basic tenets of which is the attainment of justice. We are signatory to various treaties relating to the attainment of justice and equality in various fields of human activities. Concern about crime transcends international borders and crime detection and prevention should have reciprocal responses that seek to create a crime free world. As partners in this global endeavour, we have pulled all stops to ensure that the judiciary puts its shoulder to the wheel to fast-track the prosecution of foreign nationals who, wittingly or unwittingly, may be caught up in criminal activities.
This approach will complement all other efforts we have undertaken to deal with the global threats such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, theft, violence, abuse of women and children, all forms of contact crime and more specifically hooliganism in and around stadia. In the event that there should be cooperation between our judiciary and the prosecuted individuals in terms of extradition and other regimes of global cooperation nature, we shall view these on a case by case, using as a measure our adherence to international cooperation procedures we have signed to.
Ladies and gentlemen, you will appreciate that I will not delve much into the mechanisms put in place to ensure the law is adhered to apart from the processes of courts, as the Ministry of Police is responsible for that.
In line with the Government Gazette of 21 May 2010, we stated that:
The department, in conjunction with the Justice Prevention and Security Cluster, which includes the South African Police Service, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Legal Aid South Africa and the Judiciary, developed an Administration of Justice Plan to be implemented in order to deal with alleged offences associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In that Government Gazette we also listed 56 dedicated court rooms consisting of 37 District Courts and 19 Regional Courts in all the nine host cities. In order to make this a reality, we ensured certain infrastructure upgrades with regards to facilities and security.
As part of our preparations, we also identified dedicated skilled and experienced Justice Court Officials. In this regards, we have
* 110 Magistrates
* 260 Prosecutors from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)
* 110 Legal Aid Attorneys from Legal Aid South Africa (LESA)
* 93 Foreign Language interpreters and 110 local language interpreters from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
* 1140 Court Officials from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to assist with court proceedings
* 327 Court Orderlies from the South African Police Service.
Some of the court interpreters were recruited from other countries. A legacy project resulted in the recruitment of 290 unemployed youths who were trained and accredited in customer service management. We must express our gratitude to the Security SETA, SASSETA, for funding this project to the tune of R2.2 million. Standard operational procedures were developed to be aligned with the overall Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster plan. Today we take this opportunity to make further communications to the public of these plans so that none is in the dark of what must transpire when criminal incidents arise during the FIFA World Cup.
The operation period for the dedicated courts and dedicated resources were planned to commence two weeks before, and they are already in operation as we speak, during the tournament and two weeks after the 2010 FWC event. This means that the dates of operation for these dedicated courts were from 28 May 2010 and will end on 25 July 2010. These courts will operate from 07h45 in the morning until 23h00 in the evening, seven days a week. We have conducted dry run exercises to test our sense of readiness in most of the Regions. Further details on the name of the courts are listed in the Government Gazette, also posted on the website of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Let me re-assure you that all law abiding citizens and visitors alike need not worry of the stringent measures we will apply to ensure safety and security of both citizens and visitors coming here to watch this football spectacle.
The full might of the law will be applied to anyone irrespective of country of origin, who may act or get involved in acts that may undermine our laws as well as the successful hosting of this very important FIFA World Cup.
We therefore warn those known to be forbidden by FIFA to attend World Cup events because we have ensured that relevant measures are in place to deal with those kinds of scenarios. As you may have read, there are already measures to bloc heir entry with the cooperation of our international security partners even when they use diversionary tactics of using third countries to enter South Africa.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me take this opportunity once more, to thank you for coming to this event wherein we make announcement of the dedicated courts, to highlight our overall readiness as a country towards hosting what promises to be the most spectacular and magnificent World Cup ever! We re-iterate our stance that visitors must feel free to be here in South Africa and enjoy our country to the full. The grandeur and beauty of our country’s landscape, our various must see areas ranging from entertainment to historical sites, as well as the warmth of our people are all treasures we are proud of, and are all at the disposal of all visitors. We also urge our people to treat our visitors with even greater dignity and comeliness than ever before, as befitting our spirit of hospitality for which we are known.
When the tournament is over, I am certain that FIFA and other global sporting organisations will use some of the security procedures we have used to ensure that future events are equally safe. We would like to impart and share as much knowledge and experience on this issue as we have learnt from the previous experiences of Germany and South Korea/Japan, among others.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
3 June 2010
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