Full-body scanners could be installed at all South Africa's airports should the Airports Company of SA (Acsa) be asked to heighten its security ahead of the World Cup in June.

This comes after the research and development arm of diamond giant De Beers, Deb Tech, met airports authorities to supply the scanning technology to foil terror attempts.

Deb Tech marketing manager Nico van Zyl said that following a meeting with Acsa in September, they were awaiting guidance from the government on when the scanners would be required.

"Negotiations have already taken place but we are still waiting for their go-ahead."

But Acsa spokesperson Solomon Makgale said the meeting with Deb Tech was not out of the usual.

"However, at this point, as we have pointed out before, we are not looking at installing full-body scanners at our airports. As and when we are requested to step up security... we will consider procuring such scanners."

Airports in Britain, the Netherlands and Canada have started to use full-body scanners to foil terror attempts like the Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound flight.

There are two types of machines - millimetre wavelength imaging and backscatter X-ray scanners. Both are used to see under clothes and identify unusual objects.

Van Zyl said the full-body scanner they were promoting - already used in a number of mines - was able to detect very small diamonds. The scan was also non-intrusive and only provided an outline of a person's body like X-ray scans.

They cost about R3,7-million each, excluding support costs.

To operate, each unit would require at least one person, while four or more viewers could be connected to a scanner simultaneously.

Van Zyl explained that once a scan was completed, the person could be moved to a separate waiting room, while another person could be scanned.

A viewer could then assess the scan of the person in the waiting room and if problems surfaced in the scan, the viewer would open the waiting room door to let the person through. Several waiting rooms could be used, so the scanning area remained open.