Right wing extremist groups, Islamist terrorism, and generating funding for terrorist networks are the three main terrorism threats facing South Africa, according to Institute for Security Studies (ISS) expert Willem Els.
Speaking at the Border Management Conference and Expo in Pretoria on 13 November, Else said that the real threat of terrorism in South Africa has been an open question for a very long time because no real empirical research has been done into this area. Nevertheless, he has identified three major terror threats in South Africa. The first is right wing extremist groups, but “that situation is more or less under control as those groups have been monitored quite effectively.” The leaders of the National Christian Resistance Movement aka ‘Crusaders’ right-wing organisation have been imprisoned, for example.
The second, and far more serious, challenge is the Islamist extremist threat. In places like Mayfair, Soweto, the East Rand, and Hillbrow, we picked up a lot of radicalisation taking place especially at madrasas, especially where they are indoctrinating children as young as 11. This is ongoing and sustained. If we don’t deal with this in its early stages, it might get out of hand, Els warned.
