Thugs vs Thugs in SA

SA Coppers vs Soccer Suckers
Police Get Ready for England Hooligans

Authorities in Cape Town, site of England's second match in next month's World Cup, say that's what awaits soccer hooligans in their town: tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, tasers, summary trials, cattle cars as mass holding cells - freezing temperatures guaranteed! The hope is that the advance warning will keep everyone on their best behaviour. "People might say we are treating them like cattle, but if they behave like animals then we will give no quarter," Rob Young, the police chief in Cape Town said.

England opens play in the World Cup against the United States on June 12 in Rustenburg, about 3 hours by car from Johannesburg. After that match, South Africa organizers expect many of the 50,000 to 80,000 followers of England - by far the largest delegation of any of the 31 visiting teams - to flood Cape Town ahead of the June 18 match with Algeria. And that's when the trouble could begin. To which Chief Young challenges "try us."

"The message I send to any England fans thinking about starting trouble is simple," Young told British newspapers. "We police the Third World every single day. Do you think we are intimidated by a bunch of drunken boys in football jerseys?"

British thugs are the only ones on South Africa's radar. But Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the host country's home affairs minister, said screening programmes are already in place to identify potential malicious troublemakers from Germany, Denmark and Netherlands which, along with England are the nations whose fans are expected to pose the greatest threat to the peace.

Those causing problems will be herded on to train cars specially fitted with cells - but not heat, despite the fact freezing temperatures are predicted. Held 10 prisoners to a cell, many will be tried on the spot and then transported overnight to other parts of the country.

In addition to acting as a deterrent, South African authorities concede the draconian crackdown could also prevent overcrowding in a prison system that already houses nearly 165,000 inmates in facilities designed for less than 116,000. And it will also prevent foreigners initially from being confined in prisons where HIV and gang rape are said to be common. If convicted to more than 30 days in jail, however, foreign criminals will not enjoy such preferential treatment.

In Rustenburg, near where the England team will be housed, South Africa will have two "justice buses" - mobile police stations with holding cells and on-board magistrates courts - on patrol. Suspects rounded up will be tried and could be convicted within minutes after their arrest.

South African police have also purchased 40 extra helicopters, 100 high-speed BMW police cars and large water cannons from the U.S. while the French gendarmerie have been training local police in crowd-control techniques. Undercover British police will help gauge the mood of the English trash.

But South Africa's main deterrent, Young said, will be brute force and rubber bullets. "Football hooligans might come here thinking they are tough, but we are the toughest gang in town," he said. "If you stare us down you will face plastic bullets and water cannons. If that doesn't stop you we will haul you into prison trains. "Look out the window here in Cape Town across to some of the most violent communities on earth. That is our beat, our back yard. That should tell you how tough we are."