“Nothing informs us that we would be a terrorism risk but in the same vein it would be foolish to say we can’t look at that, that we can’t work hard so it doesn’t happen,” Police Commissioner Bheki Cele told Reuters in an interview.
“The intelligence world is meeting with other big intelligence agencies, we get advice and we meet with them, especially the Americans. We are working very closely with the FBI.”
Cele said it was unfair to label South Africa as the world’s most violent country and said Brazil, hosts of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, had more crime problems.
Critics say high crime levels will be one of the biggest deterrents for foreign fans at the World Cup in June.
Official statistics show more than 18,000 people were murdered in South Africa in the 12 months to March 2009. That is around 50 a day, more than the United States which has six times the population.
Cele, who was appointed last year, said it would be foolish to say crime was not a problem but added police did not get enough credit for having succeeded in reducing the number of murders in the last six years.
He added that 41,000 police would be dedicated to World Cup safety and 1.3 billion rand ($170.1 million) spent on operations and equipment, such as new helicopters, planes and water cannons.
Cele said South Africa was working with Interpol to share intelligence on crime and terror threats.
“Two weeks back I was in Lyon meeting with the Interpol secretary general, they are putting a lot of coordination into the matter, they are sending their people to work with us,” he said.
