Police take charge after World Cup strikes

South African police took over security Tuesday at two showpiece World Cup venues after a strike by stewards which heaped more pressure on beleaguered organisers.

As Brazil prepared to make their entrance at the tournament, the front-page headlines in South African dailies reflected an unease about how the initial euphoria had evaporated and organisational problems were mounting.

“World Cup Wobbles” read the front page in The Citizen while The Times led with the headline “Strikes Rock Cup”.

Organisers were furious on Monday evening when stewards who were meant to provide security at reigning champions Italy’s opener against Paraguay in Cape Town walked off the job barely three hours before kick-off.

Their move came after stewards providing security at Durban’s World Cup stadium, employed by the same private security company, clashed with riot police in a protest over their wages.

With the pay dispute unresolved, the tournament’s local organising committee announced police had now stepped in at both stadiums which are scheduled to stage the two semi-finals next month.

“Police have taken over security operations in Durban and Cape Town until further notice,” committee spokesman Rich Mkhondo told reporters.

“Until further notice, the police will be in charge,” he added.

The dispute is a major embarrassment for organisers who also had to find alternative transport for nearly 1,000 supporters stuck at Johannesburg’s showpiece Soccer City stadium when bus drivers staged a wildcat strike.

“Although we have respect for workers’ rights, we find it unacceptable for them to disrupt match day proceedings and will not hesitate to take action in such instances,” said organising committee chief executive Danny Jordaan.

While the stewarding row remained unresolved, transport officials said a dispute with drivers on Johannesburg’s new bus system had been settled.

“The buses are running normally,” said Lisa Seftel, the city’s transport boss. “We reached an agreement with them last night.”

The drivers complained their schedules had been changed unilaterally because of special services for the World Cup and demanded changes to overtime payments, she said.

Fans attending the Netherlands’ match against Denmark in Johannesburg were left fuming on Monday after the drivers who dropped them off the stadium then went on strike.

Ever since it was awarded the hosting rights six years ago, South Africa has had to fend off claims its transport system, lack of infrastructure and high crime make it an unsuitable stage for the world’s most popular sporting event.

The strikes came on top of concern about the number of empty seats at matches. After FIFA promised to investigate how the attendance at a weekend match in Port Elizabeth was about 8,000 short of capacity, there were more embarrassing gaps at Monday’s match between Japan and Cameroon.

“For some games we made bulk ticket sales to organisations, some holders of those tickets did not turn up,” FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot told reporters.

“Owners of these tickets might have had problems getting to the stadiums, like transport problems,” he added.

“It is not nice to see empty seats at stadiums, but so far we have done well in terms of attendance.”

There were unlikely to be any such gaps at Brazil’s match against North Korea in Johannesburg later in the day.

But the North Koreans, 2,000-1 outsiders, have created headaches for organisers with their reluctance to hold interviews or open training sessions to the press.

Coach Kim Jong-hun, who says he has received “advice” from the country’s leader Kim Jong-Il on how to reach the finals, refused to take any questions on politics at a rare press briefing on Monday.

Asked if his team could spring an upset, he replied: “This will bring a lot of joy to the Great Leader, it will show that North Koreans have great mental strength.”