South Africa police say Uruguayan football officials have declined to pursue a theft case after allegations emerged that one of their own may have been responsible.

Police spokesman Leon Engelbrecht said on Sunday that after receiving a report that about $US12,000 ($A14,145) was missing from two of the delegation's Cape Town hotel rooms several hours before Uruguay played France on Friday, authorities reviewed hotel surveillance camera footage.

"There's a big possibility that a member of the Uruguayan delegation was involved," Engelbrecht said.

He said when delegation members saw the footage, they decided not to open a case.

Sebastian Bauza, president of the Uruguayan football association, denied a delegation member was involved, saying that pressing charges would take too much time and distract from the World Cup.

In another incident on the same day, TV New Zealand's correspondent and cameraman were robbed of all their equipment at the FIFA-approved Sparkling Waters hotel in Rustenburg, foreign editor Max Hayton said.

Thieves smashed their hotel room door when the two were out to dinner, he said. The estimated loss was $US100,000 ($A117,870).

There have been other robberies of World Cup travellers.

Three journalists - two from Portugal, one from Spain - were robbed of money, camera equipment, laptop computers and mobile phones last Wednesday in a town northwest of Johannesburg.

One of the journalists was robbed at gunpoint.

"It took police no more than 24 hours to arrest these lunatic scoundrels," South Africa minister of police Nathi Mthetwa said in a statement after three men - two from Zimbabwe and one from Nigeria - were arrested in that case.

"It further took the justice department no more than 48 hours to sentence them. Now this is what we have been echoing: that we will act with swiftness on any criminality."

Two of those convicted were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for armed robbery and the third to four years for the possession of stolen property.

South Africa has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime and the thefts are a reminder of the dangers that face hundreds of thousands of fans coming to watch the month-long tournament.

Authorities have set up 56 dedicated courts to deal quickly with World Cup-related cases.

"No criminal, whether South African or foreign, will terrorise law-abiding citizens or visitors during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and beyond, especially because this is a festival of the beautiful game," Mthetwa said.

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