South African State Security Minister David Mahlobo has stated that South Africa is safe, following alerts issued by the US and UK.
“We remain a strong and stable democratic country and there is no immediate danger posed by the alert,” the Minister said on Monday.
Over the weekend, the following alert was issued: “The US Diplomatic Mission to South Africa informs US citizens that the US Government has received information that terrorist groups are planning to carry out near-term attacks against places where US citizens congregate in South Africa, such as upscale shopping areas and malls in Johannesburg and Cape Town. This information comes against the backdrop of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s public call for its adherents to carry out terrorist attacks globally during the upcoming month of Ramadan.”
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) also updated its advice for SA to reflect a “high threat from terrorism”, adding in its terrorism note: “There is a high threat from terrorism. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners such as shopping areas in Johannesburg and Cape Town.”
Neither country is warning its citizens against travel to South Africa.
Jasmine Opperman is the Africa Director for the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium, suggested that the warnings were vague. “[T]he reference to the group’s “public call” to implement attacks during Ramadan makes it hard to tell whether the threat is particular to South Africa, or global in nature,” she wrote in an analysis on the Daily Maverick.
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