At 12:45 today at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, the venue for the Final Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, there was a hoax threat.
“There was a threat made and we resorted to our standard operational procedures by evacuating that specific area and sweeping it. Concurrently we conducted the investigation and arrested a foreign journalist. The area was declared safe within minutes and the item that was said to have been an explosive was not. This is not the first threat that we have today. In an earlier incident at Cape Town International Airport within minutes we identified and arrested an individual who made two hoax calls and this is an indication of the capacity we have to immediately identify these mischief makers and bring them to book. Every time a call like this is made we have to treat it as a real time or live situation and deal with it accordingly,” said Vishnu Naidoo, spokesperson for the South African Police Service.
For further information please contact:
Vishnu Naidoo, spokesperson for the South African Police Service
Cell: 082 567 4153
Issued by: South African Police Service
4 December 2009
