Police will be drafted in at World Cup stadia around South Africa where match security staff, who have been striking over low wages since Monday, insist on continuing with industrial action, according to an AP report.

 

The decision to recruit the South African police has come because of a worsening industrial dispute between stadium stewards and their employers, which began after a World Cup game in Durban last Sunday and spread to games in Cape Town on Monday and Johannesburg yesterday.

 

Security staff say they are only being paid about €20 for a 10-hour shift – a fraction of what their employers promised during dry runs for the World Cup games.

 

Fifa Local Organizing Committee (LOC) spokesman Rich Mkhondo said yesterday they had asked the police to take over security services at Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium and Durban’s Moses Mabhida stadium until further notice.

 

Security staff in Cape Town abandoned their posts shortly before kick-off between Paraguay and Italy on Monday night, forcing organizers to draft in more than 1,000 trainee police from nearby training colleges to provide basic security and checks at the game.