South African police want extra World Cup pay

Police in South Africa want higher pay during the FIFA World Cup.

On Monday, Joseph Matam, secretary for the South African Policing Union (SAPU) has called on police management to attend to the matter urgently as it could compromise security during the World Cup.

South Africa hosts the tournament, involving 32 competing nations, from June 11 to July 11.

"SAPU would like to call upon the South African Police Force ( SAPF) management to come up with a reasonable offer to us about the special daily allowance paid to the police," Matam said.

According to the South African Press Association (SAPA) police management had offered to pay employees 700 rands (95 U.S. dollars) per shift for overtime worked.

The union rejected this and demanded a 900-rand (125 U.S. dollar) allowance per shift for its members and that they only work up to eight hours of overtime per day.

Matam said SAPU didn't want a situation where members will refuse to work overtime, especially during the World Cup.

"The 2010 FIFA World Cup is one of the events that fall under the special daily allowance, therefore the country cannot afford to have a dispute or a question mark hanging in a serious issue like that," the union said.

South Africa's department of police could not immediately be reached for comment.