S Africans to screen out World Cup hooligans
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South African authorities have plans in place to screen out soccer hooligans from the FIFA World Cup in South Africa next month, South Africa's home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in the country's parliament on Tuesday.
She said her department would work with the South African police to keep an eye on potential soccer hooligans.
"Of course some of them will come in," Dlamini-Zuma said.
She explained that in some countries the law does not allow authorities to stop people who have had no brush with the police, even if they are known to be hooligans.
Dlamini-Zuma said her home affairs department had been discussing hooliganism with other countries such as Argentina, the South African Press Association (SAPA) reported.
"What they are doing, they are giving us the list and that is where they will be staying and you must do what you need to do to keep an eye on them.
Dlamini-Zuma said her department had concluded discussions with Kenya, Britain, Hong Kong, Germany and India and was about conclude talks with Dubai about appointing airline liaison officers to pre-clear passengers before they arrived in South Africa.
"By the time the plane-load of passengers arrives here, our airline liaison officers will have looked at passenger list and will have advised airline if there are people on our police or Interpol stop-list," she said.
She said her airline liaison officers would advise airlines if a person is not allowed in for the World Cup.
"It means the bulk of passengers we will know they are not high risk and will be cleared much faster... You can be cleared onboard and when you arrive you just go through."
According to SAPA, Dlamini-Zuma also said some World Cup teams are creating headaches for the South African department of home affairs by demanding to be able to land their flights at airports not designated as international ports of entry.
She said such the teams were placing "unpractical demands" on the South African department by insisting on flying directly to non-international ports like Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth.
"Already we are receiving requests for countries who are bringing teams saying we want to land there because my base camp is there," she said.
"We have been to World Cups. We never had that. You land at a designated international port of entry and then you move to your local destination."
Dlamini-Zuma said various "security requirements" had to be in place before an airport could be international port.
"You can't overnight say this is an international port of entry. You need the South African Revenue Service there, you need immigration there, you need the police there, you need movement control systems there."
She said it was not possible to chop and change international ports of entry.
"It is not practical, especially for security purposes. We should not encourage that kind of idea."
