World Cup watchWorld Cup security strike still spreading in South Africa

Published 16 June 2010

More than 1,500 South African security personnel abandoned their posts in five of the stadiums in which the World Cup soccer games are played; security guards at the stadiums in Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Soccer City, the main World Cup stadium on Johannesburg’s outskirts, appear to have been cheated by the South African security company which hired them: the contracts the company signed with them said they would be paid £130 per shift, but their first payment, which they received Monday, was only £17 per shift; the South African police pulled more than 1,000 police officers from other World Cup-related security duties to replace the striking security guards

World Cup 2010 logo // Source: blogspot.com

We reported the other day about 300 security stewards in Durban who left their posts after being cheated by the South African security company which hired them: the company promised the stewards £130 per shift, but paid them only £17. The striking security staff at Durban became agitated, and police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.

Now, other security stewards, also angered over low pay, expanded the strike Tuesday to five of the World Cup’s ten stadiums, forcing the South African police to assume security duties in a bitter counterpoint to the generally festive tournament.

Detroit News wire services report that South African Police Services said it deployed about 1,000 extra officers in and around Johannesburg’s Ellis Park to guarantee security for yesterday’s match between Brazil, one of tournament favorites, and North Korea.

On a day that carried winter’s bite in this Southern Hemisphere nation, hundreds of stewards and security guards dressed in their black uniforms sang, whistled, and chanted for more pay outside the stadium.

Everywhere we go, we have rights,” they sang as armed police kept watch but did not interfere. Later, bundled in knit caps and gloves, many of the strikers huddled in the raw wind and temperatures just above freezing, waiting for news about negotiations.

Police said they also have taken over security at stadiums in Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth, where Portugal and Ivory Coast played to a 0-0 draw Tuesday.

Several hundred guards also walked off the job at Soccer City, the main World Cup stadium on Johannesburg’s outskirts. There was no match there; its next game will be Thursday.