South Africa: `Corrupt SA cops could target 2010 tourists`

25 July, 2008 in South Africa, World Cup 2010

source: IOL
July 24 2008 at 06:01PM

Some members of South Africa’s poorly paid police force are vulnerable to corruption and could target tourists during the 2010 Soccer World Cup for bribes, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) warned on Thursday.

President Thabo Mbeki’s government has intensified efforts to combat crime ahead of the tournament, and official figures show murders, rapes and other violent crimes have dropped in the past year, although they remain high.

But these gains could be eroded by corruption among police, who are not only lowly paid but also highly stressed in a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world, said Andrew Faull, an ISS researcher who specialises in police corruption.

“Public perceptions of corruption in the police are on the rise, resulting in a loss of faith in [continue reading]