'Shoot Them in the Head': World Cup Hosts Brazil and South Africa Crack Down on Crime

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South African President Jacob Zuma sought to convey the same confidence at a speech he gave in Pretoria a month ago. But South Africa, unlike Rio, lacks the time for long-term operations; the kickoff is just over seven months away, on June 11, 2010. Zuma, forming the shape of a pistol with his thumb and index finger, said: "We have an abnormal criminal problem in South Africa. We must therefore apply extraordinary measures."

From April 2008 to March 2009, 18,148 people were killed in South Africa, or an average of 50 murders a day. The police also recorded 70,514 sexual offences, but the number of unreported cases is believed to be much higher. In Gauteng province, where there are three World Cup stadiums and where the German team plans to stay, the murder rate has risen by 6 percent, the number of residential robberies by 11 percent and the number of store holdups by 22 percent.

Almost two-thirds of all homicides happen in the townships. The slums with the highest murder rates are directly adjacent to the cities where matches will be held next summer: Umlazi, outside Durban, and Nyanga, near Cape Town. The violence has also taken hold in upscale residential neighborhoods where residents seek to protect themselves with security cameras, electric fences and guard dogs. This summer Force Khashane, a nationally renowned journalist, was shot dead by six bullets in front of his home.

New Standards

The government has taken steps to combat the violence. The police has spent €115 million on the World Cup alone, purchasing 10 water cannons and six helicopters. To improve the quality of the police force, whose officers have been known to wait an inordinate amount of time before heading to the scene of a crime, hiring standards have been tightened. However, 41,000 additional police offers who will patrol the World Cup stadiums next year, and who attended accelerated training programs, are not affected by the new standards.

The army was brought in to provide extra security at the Confederations Cup in June, a dress rehearsal of sorts for the World Cup. For next year's event, the FBI, Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and Britain's Scotland Yard will advise the South Africans on how best to secure arenas and tourist areas.

President Zuma has decided to take a tougher approach to fighting crime. Shortly after taking office in May, he appointed Bheki Cele as his new police commissioner, a wiry hardliner who sometime refers to criminals as "cockroaches" and advises police officers to "shoot them in the head." When the police recently killed six gangsters as they were trying to hold up a money transport, he told the men: "Well done."

Cele is working under high pressure, and with the president's explicit support, to draft a law that would allow his officers to retaliate regardless of the circumstances, the motto being "shoot to kill." Under current law, South African police officers are only permitted to shoot if they or people around them are threatened. In the future, violent criminals could also be shot as they are attempting to flee -- and not just in the legs.

Reclaiming the Slums

Rio's police force is no less squeamish, having killed about 1,100 people last year, when it began storming and occupying favelas. However the government has also sent social workers to the Santa Marta slum, the electric utility has legalized the power supply, the water company has installed a new sewer system, and garbage collection now reaches even the remotest parts of the slum. There is now a tram that travels to the top of the hill, stopping at five stations along the way. "Step by step, the city is reclaiming the favelas," says José Mariano Beltrame, Rio's security minister.

Five favelas were pacified using similar measures in recent months, including Cidade de Deus (City of God), a favela made notorious by the film of the same name. Forty-seven other favelas are on the city's priority list, and four are scheduled for occupation by the end of the year.

The most difficult and largest slums are yet to come: the Rocinha, Morro do Alemão and Maré favela complexes. Each of these giant slums is home to about 100,000 people, and the drug bosses who control them have a veritable military arsenal at their disposal. The expressway to Rio's international airport, which leads directly through the Maré favela complex, often has to be closed because of gun battles, and drivers are frequently robbed while stuck in traffic jams.

A Real Estate Boom?

Rocinha lies along the main road between Rio's southern zone and the Barra da Tijuca district, where most of the events will take place during the Olympics. The federal government is investing hundreds of millions of reais into urbanizing the slum, but occupation is a step the police are still reluctant to take. The drug gang in Rocinha is considered one of the city's best armed.

If the authorities manage to pacify Rocinha, the favela -- located opposite one of the city's most expensive residential areas, between a country club and the beach -- could experience a real estate boom before the 2014 World Cup. In Santa Mara, the favela now under Captain Azevedo's control, real estate prices have shot up since the police occupation began.

In locations higher up the hill, with views of Sugar Loaf Mountain, a shack could once be had for about 20,000 reais (around €8,000 or $12,000). Prices have since tripled.

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• Part 1: World Cup Hosts Brazil and South Africa Crack Down on Crime
• Part 2: 'An Abnormal Criminal Problem'