Security directorate for 2003 World Cup

Fakir Hassen

The 2003 Cricket World Cup Committee has announced a high-powered directorate to ensure security of those present at the tournament to be hosted by South Africa.

The directorate will take care of security of teams, referees, umpires, media, VIPs and some 800,000 ticket-holders. It will report to executive director Ali Bacher and the Policy Committee of the world's premier cricket tournament.

"We have every confidence that through the calibre of representatives on the directorate and their strategy we will ensure that the tournament will be safe and incident-free," Bacher said.

The 2003 Security Directorate will be led by Patrick Ronan, a lawyer and former Department of Justice official who currently serves as CEO of the Security Officers' Interim Board, the statutory regulator of the private security industry.

Other members of the directorate are:

* Randall Howard, a senior labour representative who is currently general secretary of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) and a member of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) executive and its central executive committee;

* Rory Steyn, a sports event security specialist who is retained as a consultant to the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) and the SAPS team leader of then President Nelson Mandela's personal protection unit;

* Mzwandile Simon, the current national chairperson of SATAWU's security sector and a member of SATAWU's central executive committee;

* Director Ben van Deventer, a senior SAPS official responsible for the national coordination of major event security.

In addition, the directorate will utilize the expertise of the Logistics Director of the 2003 CWC, Malcolm Tarbitt, and other ad hoc experts from time to time.

"Ours will be a team effort whose success will hinge on proper planning and joint cooperation between the private security sector, the state law enforcement agencies and organized labor."

"The activities of the directorate will, inter alia, in the execution of its weighty responsibilities, capture the essence of the Mission Statement of the 2003 Cricket World Cup and the societal plan of our government in as far as transformation and empowerment is concerned," Ronan said.

The directorate will make a presentation of its overall strategy to the 2003 CWC Policy Committee on August 17.

Indo-Asian News Service