Terrorism and Counterterrorism in South Africa

Abstract

In recent years, growing evidence has shown that South Africa is increasingly playing a key supportive role for the operations of terrorist networks. Safe houses for terrorists have been identified, the nation's economic system has been used by terrorists to transfer funds, South African identity documents have been fraudulently obtained and provided to terrorists, and reports of paramilitary camps in the country have surfaced. Examining how this came about, this article looks at both the links between foreign and local terror networks and the state of South African security services before suggesting what effective measures can be undertaken to uproot the terror support structure that has already been set up.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• counterterrorism
• Islamist Extremism
• South Africa
• Terrorism

Notes

¹Makhudu Sefara and Peter Fabricius, “City 2010 Terror Cell,” Weekend Argus, October 11, 2009, 1.

²Wene Owino, “Al Qaeda Operatives in Botswana, Report Claims,” Daily Nation, October 1, 2009.

³Hussein Solomon, South Africa and the Fight Against Global Terrorism, Occasional Paper No. 29/2009 (Pretoria: International Institute for Islamic Studies, 2009).

⁴C. Carter, 2004, “Al Qaeda Leaders Hiding in SA, Claims CIA,” IOL, October 3, 2004, http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20041003105408686Cf11538; News24, “SA ‘a Growing Terrorist Hideout,’” News24.com, September 6, 2005, http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,2-7-1442_1765283,0100html.

⁵W. Da Costa, “SA Used to Train Muslim Terrorists,” IOL March 14, 2007, http://http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20070314022616392C896472; J. Solomon. “New Report of Terrorist Camp in South Africa,” Terrorism Focus 4, no. 2 (May 1, 2007): 5, http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleide=2373363.

⁶Carter, “Al Qaeda Leaders Hiding in SA, Claims CIA.”

⁷J. Solomon, “The Danger of Terrorist Black Holes in Southern Africa,” Terrorism Monitor 5, no. 5 (March 15, 2007): 2, http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism.news/uploads/TM_005_005.pdf.

⁸Ibid.

⁹A. Templeton, “SA Keeps an Eye on ‘Bin Laden's Banker,’” IOL, August 2, 2005, http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20050802135007903C957531; also idem, “Uncovering the Life of London Bomb Suspect,” IOL, August 2, 2005 http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=2997&art_id=vn20050802063935205C505567.

¹⁰Solomon, “The Danger of Terrorist Black Holes in Southern Africa,” 4.

¹¹J. Schanzer. “Pretoria Unguarded,” The Weekly Standard 12, no. 35 (May 28, 2007), http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/677lkhfy.asp; IOL. “More SA Names Placed on Terror List—Pahad,” IOL, January 31, 2007, http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=qw1170276483482B236.

¹²M. Terdman, “Al Qaeda Inroads in Southern Africa,” PRISM Occasional Papers (2008), 3, http://www.e-prism.org/images/PRISM_African_Papers_vol_2_no_1_Southern_Africa_March_08.pdf, p. 3; Solomon, “Pretoria Unguarded,” 2–3.

¹³Department of the Treasury. Press Release: Treasury Targets Al Qaeda Facilitators in South Africa. http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp230.htm.

¹⁴S. Benton, “SA may Give Fica More Teeth.” http://www.southafrica.info/doing_business/economy/fiscal_policies/fica0211.

¹⁵K. Shillinger. “Al Qaeda in Southern Africa,” Armed Forces Journal (February 2006), http://www.afjil.com/2006/02/18183653.

¹⁶Ibid.

¹⁷J. Lefkowitz. “Terror's South African Front,” In the National Interest (August 2005). http://www.inthenationalinterest.com/Articles/Vol3Issue33/Vol3Issue33Lefkowitz.html.

¹⁸Da Costa, “SA Used to Train Muslim Terrorists.”

¹⁹Solomon, “New Report of Terrorist Camp in South Africa,” 5.

²⁰Barry Rubin, “Will the Big Story of 2010 be a Terrorist Attack on the Games,” October 19, 2009. http://rubinereports.blogspot.com/2009/10/will-the-big-story-of-2010-be-terrorist.html.

²¹Hussein Solomon, South Africa and the Fight Against Global Terrorism, 1.

²²Templeton, “SA Keeps an Eye on ‘Bin Laden's Banker.'”

²³Solomon, “The Danger of Terrorist Black Holes in Southern Africa,” 3.

²⁴A. Holt, 2004, “South Africa in the War on Terror,” Terrorism Monitor 2, no. 23 (May 5, 2005), http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2368948; News24, “SA ‘a Growing Terrorist Hideout,” News24.com, September 6, 2005, http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,2_7_1442_1765283,00.html; S. Morrison, Testimony of J. Stephen Morrison Before the House International Relations Committee, Subcommittee on Africa, November 15, 2001, http://yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/sep_11/morrison_001.htm.

²⁵Associated Press, “Terrorists Obtained South African Passports,” USA Today, July 24, 2005, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004–07-27-southafrica-terrorists_x.htm?csp=34; C. Carter, “Alleged Leader of Al Qaeda on the Run in Africa,” The Cape Argus, October 19, 2004, 2.

²⁶“Terrorists Obtained South African Passports,” USA Today; Lefkowitz, “Terror's South African Front.”

²⁷N. Joseph and H. Du Plessis, “Net Widens around Pipe Bombers,” Independent Online, January 9. 2007, http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20070109124538800C243720&set_id=1&click_id=15&sf=.

²⁸C. Dolley, “Waterfront Beefs Up Security as Police Probe,” Independent Online, January 2, 2007, http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20070314022616392C896472.

²⁹“Africa Cup Bomb Plot Foiled,” The Cape Times, February 15, 2006, http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionld=269&fArticleld=3108712.

³⁰Ken Vernon, “Waterfront Bomb Video Bungle,” The Sunday Times, August 30, 1998.

³¹M. Schmidt, K. Ajam, and Y. Badat, “SA Pair Accused of Terrorism Fly Home,” The Star (December 2004), 1.

³²Solomon, “New Report of Terrorist Camp in South Africa,” 3.

³³A. Hartley, “Diplomats Visit SA ‘al Qaeda’ Men in Pakistan,” The Cape Times, October 7, 2004, 5.

³⁴Lefkowitz, op. cit.

³⁵K. Brown, “SA Fears Al Qaeda Men Hiding in Local Schools,” Independent Online (October 2004), http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=vn20041004100210304C720798.

³⁶Karima Brown, “SA Fears Al Qaeda Men Hiding in Local Schools,” Cape Argus, August 4, 2004.

³⁷Ibid.

³⁸Waseem Shehzad, “Pakistani Army Creates Killing Fields in Swat Valley,” Crescent International 38, no. 4 (June 2009): 9.

³⁹“Terrorism in South-East Asia after the Bombings,” The Economist, July 25, 2009, 50.

⁴⁰Shaun Edge, “Fixing the Faults: An Analysis of and Alternatives to South Africa's Failures Concerning Terrorism,” CiPS E-Briefing Paper 57/2008 (Centre for International Political Studies, University of Pretoria).

⁴¹Hussein Solomon, South Africa and the Fight Against Global Terrorism, 2.

⁴²Shillinger, “Al Qaeda in Southern Africa.”

⁴³Truth and Reconciliation Commission, “Holding the ANC Accountable.” The TRC Report, vol. 6, section 5, chapter 3, 649, http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2003/trc/5_3.pdf.

⁴⁴Hussein Solomon, Pakistan and the Legacy of Maulana Maududi, Occasional Paper No. 9/2009 (Pretoria:. International Institute for Islamic Studies, 2009), 2.

⁴⁵Hussein Solomon, “South Africa's Ambiguous Response to Terrorism,” CiPS E-Briefing Paper, No. 55/2008 (Centre for International Political Studies, University of Pretoria, 2008), 2.

⁴⁶Ibid., 2.

⁴⁷Ibid., 2.

⁴⁸Schanzer, “Pretoria Unguarded.”

⁴⁹Adriaan Basson, “Jackie Selebi's Big Gamble,” The Mail and Guardian, October 23, 2009, 6.

⁵⁰The State Security Agency is a powerful new agency incorporating both the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service.

⁵¹Xolani Mbanjwa, “Spy Chief Promises Shake-Up,” Sunday Independent, October 4, 2009.

⁵²Peter Pedroncelli, “World Cup 2010: The Threat of Crime and Terrorism, It's All under Control,” Goal, April 9. 2009, http://goal.com/en/news/1863/world-cup-2010/2009/04/09/1200378/world-cup...-. 9 April 2009.

⁵³Ibid.

⁵⁴Paul Kirk, “Terror in the Sky: SA Powerless to Prevent a 9/11 Scenario in 2010,” The Citizen, October 14, 2009, 1, 3.

⁵⁵Pedroncelli, “World Cup 2010.”

⁵⁶C. Du Plessis, “Hundreds of Cops Found Guilty of Crimes in One Year,” Pretoria News, September 8, 2009.

⁵⁷“Lack of Specialized Security Guards a Concern Ahead of 2010,” Eyewitness News, August 19, 2009.

⁵⁸Rubin, “Will the Big Story of 2010 Be a Terrorist Attack on the Games.”

⁵⁹Hussein Solomon, Revisiting Islam vs Islamism, CiPS E-Briefing Paper Series, No. 83/2008, 2.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hussein Solomon

Hussein Solomon is Professor of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a Visiting Fellow at the Mackinder Programme for the Study of Long-Wave Events at the London School of Economics.