Pretoria - With the security success of the opening ceremony and high profile matches behind them, police are now preparing for the last major test of the 2010 FIFA World Cup - the final match and closing ceremony.
Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele said a number of Heads-of-State and "eminent people" were expected to arrive in South Africa for the all-important final on 11 July.
"A special committee has been set up look after that day," Cele added, saying he was confident that police would be adequately prepared to ensure the safety of the dignitaries.
Cele told media on Tuesday that most of the offences reported to police during the World Cup were cases of theft.
A total of 316 people - 207 South Africans and 109 foreign nationals - had been arrested since the beginning of the tournament.
The commissioner said 90 percent of the arrests had been in connection with theft.
He also confirmed that there was a burglary at FIFA's offices in Johannesburg where several World Cup Trophy replicas and soccer jerseys were taken.
Twenty-nine cases of unauthorised ticket sales had been reported to police and 33 people had been arrested in these cases. This included 14 South Africans and 19 foreigners.
Cele warned that police would not tolerate ticket scalping and would increase vigilance outside the stadia on match days.
He meanwhile denied reports that two Pakistani nationals arrested in Zimbabwe, en route to South Africa, were terror suspects.
"..we are convinced and confident that the two Pakistanis arrested in Zimbabwe have no terror links and are not wanted in connection with any act of terror," Cele added.
He said the Pakistani nationals were arrested because they did not have the correct entry visas for Zimbabwe and that they told authorities they were en route to South Africa to watch the World Cup matches.
While there was no suggestion that they intended to commit any act of terrorism in South Africa, police had an "interest" in them because of their suspected involvement in human smuggling, Cele added.
While the commissioner congratulated members of the law enforcement agencies for the speed in which cases were been investigated and arrests made, he assured South Africans that this effectiveness would not end with the World Cup.
The money, training and methodology used to prepare the SAPS for the World Cup would remain in South Africa after the tournament and would ensure more effective policing, the commissioner said.
"We believe we are capable of continuing with the same speed and intensity in policing after the World Cup," he said.
