Andre Pruis, South Africa's deputy National Police Commissioner, is optimistic the 2010 World Cup will be a peaceful success despite the recent wave of ant-immigrant violence.

"South Africa will be safer by the 2010 World Cup, our goal is to lower the crime rate year-by-year by between seven and ten percent," Puris said on Tuesday.

Over the last three weeks violence against foreigners across the country has shaken the African nation with at least 56 people killed and more than a thousand arrests.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has already expressed his concern about the recent violence at an executive meeting of football's governing body in Sydney.

Pruis said the situation has been under control since Tuesday morning.

For the 2010 World Cup, South Africa's police force has approximately 192.5 million U.S. dollars at it disposal. And South African's 41,000-strong police force is expected to be boosted by officers from other countries, as in the example of the 2006 World Cup.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2008)