Many Muslims are wary of the militant organisation that has a strong hand in the controversial anti-crime group Pagad. Rehana Rossouw reports
On the eve of the elections in 1994, Qibla leader Achmad Cassiem pronouced from platforms in mosques in the Cape that South Africa would be an Islamic state by the year 2000.
Between 1994 and today, the organisation has not attracted thousands of people to its ranks to fight its cause, but it has found a vehicle to mobilise people on religious lines.
People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) has vehemently attempted to shrug off the label of Islamic fundamentalism — an indication, insiders say, that cracks are appearing in the movement and that it is attempting to distance itself from the militant faction which has invaded it.
The organisation’s public statements have done little to dispel fears that it is a radical Muslim organisation. It has declared jihad (just war) at every march participants have chanted Allahu Akbar (God is great), it claims to have support from Hezbollah and Hamas, and its members are draped in Palestinian scarves.
At the organisation’s rally last Sunday, every speaker was Muslim, and all quoted from the Qur’an while protesting the media’s portrayal of Pagad as a Muslim organisation. The rally started with prayers delivered by members of the Muslim clergy.
Pagad members, police intelligence and Muslim clergy have warned that Qibla is attempting to hijack Pagad, but most observers believe the organisation does not have the staying power to keep Pagad alive or to swell its ranks considerably.
Qibla (which means direction) was launched by Cassiem in 1979 to promote the establishment of an Islamic state in South Africa. It played a prominent role in the Western Cape in the 1980s to stir up insurrection against the state.
It has never enjoyed mass membership, although in the 1980s some of its members were sent to Libya for military training.
The organisation claimed responsibility for an attack on an Athlone tavern in 1984, and two of its members served spells in prison afterwards. Insiders say they are now disillusioned with Qibla.
Qibla has never recognised the legitimacy of the South African state — both the former regime and the African National Congress government. “In terms of its political morality, the state is a legitimate target. Its intentions are to put the Muslim community on a collision course with the state,” said a political observer.
“Its perception is that middle-class Muslims support the ANC, and that these people should be lured away from the ANC. It hit the jackpot when Pagad began mobilising that community and it found the door wide open to get involved.”
Many Muslim clerics are distancing themselves from Qibla and are voicing concerns that Pagad be rescued from the organisation’s hijacking.
“Until Sunday, Cassiem was held back from getting openly involved in Pagad by the Islamic Unity Convention [which he chairs],” said a senior Muslim cleric. “It was worried that the licence application for its community radio station was about to be heard and there were already rumblings that the intelligence community was unhappy at the way it was fomenting violence in the Muslim community.
“But publicity is an aphrodisiac to Cassiem, and since Sunday’s Pagad rally, there seems to be no holding him back. He speaks on behalf of Pagad and has now seemingly rejected the olive branch [Police Commisioner George] Fivaz was holding out to the organisation.”
The cleric suggested Cassiem’s young followers, who have taken a leading role in Pagad’s militant actions, were also held in check by the Islamic Unity Convention (IUC), the biggest Muslim organisation in the Western Cape. They had found an outlet for their militancy in Pagad, which had far less intellectual leadership. On Wednesday, the IUC distanced itself from Pagad’s militant stance.
Observers believe Qibla has only a handful of followers to infiltrate into Pagad, but they note that people who have now assumed the mantle of leadership in the organisation are Qibla members.
How well-trained they are is also in dispute. “Three months ago there was a rumour Hamas was coming to South Africa,” said the political observer. “The media jumped on the story. Nelson Mandela was in hospital having a check-up and the press besieged him with questions, to which he responded that he would welcome Hamas.
“There was no truth in that story, despite Israeli intelligence spreading the rumour. But these kinds of rumours are never officially dispelled and the belief remains in people’s minds.” He said when Muslims stated they were training young men in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban to send to fight in Bosnia, many believed that story as well. Not one Muslim returned after fighting in the war, and he doubted that any had left the country in the first place.
Two years ago, pamphlets were distributed in Cape Town, purportedly issued by Hizbullah. Although intelligence operatives investigated whether they had links with Hizbullah abroad, no link was found.
“There is no doubt there are people intent on establishing an Islamic state in South Africa. Cassiem has been saying that’s what he wants for years. If the best they can do to achieve this is infiltrate another organisation, then the sun will not dawn on an Islamic state for many years,” said the cleric.
“Qibla has never sustained a campaign for a long period. I hope it doesn’t succeed now. At best, Cassiem is a revolutionary without a cause. These people are a nuisance rather than a threat. They’re very good at masking their faces, shaking their guns and intimidating the public, but they’re never going to win mass support.
“All they’re looking for is a picture opportunity, and unfortunately they’re getting quite a few now.”