September 11, 2002
By Bongani Majola
SOUTH AFRICA'S biggest security operation ever was launched for The World Summit on Sustainable Development. And it worked: Johannesburg had its lowest crime rate in years.
The security operation drew on the support of police and other services from around the country to bolster Jo'burg's security agencies. The army, the navy, and airspace security joined forces. All available resources were poured into the operation -Johannesburg Metro Police alone had 152 vehicles especially dedicated to the Summit; 20 police officers on pedal cycles; more than a dozen mounted police and 12 sniffer dogs, which are rated among the best in the country in detecting bombs and drugs.
More than 15 world-class hospitals across Gauteng were on standby for any health emergency. In the end, Masoek says, nothing dangerous happened, only minor reported hoaxes.
In the two weeks that the Summit took place, Johannesburg had the lowest reported crime figures for some time. Working 12-hour shifts, SAPS Public Order Policing and Crime Prevention Units conducted random checks of pedestrians and vehicles around Johannesburg. The most highly trained security personnel at the Summit were the Special Forces, who handled VIP protection and motorcade security.
It wasn't just a matter of ensuring the safety of the high-profile delegates and heads of state visiting Johannesburg for the Summit. It was also a matter of containing protest marches, and making sure that traffic flowed smoothly through the area.
The Johannesburg Metro police presence was backed up by more than hundred part-time staffers, complimented by 60 double-cab vehicles for special patrols. These could be seen on all off-ramps on major routes to Sandton. On the day of the protest marches to the Sandton Convention Centre, 850 Metro officers were on duty, supported by more than 500 other officers from the Ekurhuleni and Tshwane Metro Police.
A key point in the security plan was the Grayston Drive connection to the M1 highway - an intersection that has some 800 vehicles per minute moving through it. This is Jo'burg's "permanent peak area", and just before the Summit it had to be extended to accommodate any extra flow. "Any disruption on that point," says Johannesburg Metro Police Operations Director, Derek Masoek, "could wreak havoc with the whole security operation and the whole Summit."
And security was not limited to the streets. It penetrated right down to the pipes beneath the Sandton Convention Centre, according to Masoek, as well as to the skies above. The pipes had to be protected from the possibility that bombs might be placed there, and the skies above the Summit had to be protected from unauthorized flyovers - one aeroplane that had been diverted from a nearby airport and flew into the zone without permission was escorted away by airforce planes. On the ground, biological warfare specialists scrutinized food and water.
An "island site" was created at Johannesburg International Airport, so that visitors could be checked by security there and then escorted directly, without stopping, to the conference center. Motorbike escorts alone covered more than 60 000km during the Summit; 4 900 vehicles were escorted in this way.
On bridges over all major roads leading to Sandton, army personnel were stationed on a 24-hour basis. Surveillance covered the key routes of the N3/R21 axis, N1/M1 Woodmead axis and the N1 Western Bypass up to the Nasrec Exhibition Centre.
Masoek says preparations started about a year before the Summit, when security forces engaged in consultation with affected communities, "assuring them the Summit would not be a major inconvenience". "Johannesburg Metro alone budgeted more than R14,5-million for the security strategy, and this figure excludes fuel costs."
The Sandton Convention Centre is difficult to secure, says Masoek. "Though no venue cannot be protected, Sandton proved more difficult due to its physical outlay. You have the centre right next to major private hotels. Add to that one of the country's busiest shopping malls, then you need more personnel, more expenditure and more resources than any other venue."
Jo'burg residents praised the level of security generated during the Summit - and hoped it would stay in place. Masoek says it would be impossible sustain such a high level of security in Johannesburg, though he added that crime in general had been reduced in the city.
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