Proposed anti-terrorism laws could see prescribed detention for anyone suspected of involvement with terror attacks
Marianne Merten The government is pinning its hopes of stemming the wave of terror attacks in the Western Cape on new anti-terrorism laws giving security forces draconian powers. Justice officials say the draft Bill could be fast-tracked and tabled in Parliament this year after the deadline for public comment at the end of this month. The new law could stipulate mandatory sentences. It could prescribe 14-day detention for anyone with information on terror attacks and impose a duty on members of the public to report information on terrorist actions. At this stage there is no provision for banning organisations. But a process, with recourse to the court, to allow for this could be added. It is unlikely, say sources, that the intention is to give the minister the power to ban a group by the stroke of a pen as during the apartheid years.
The proposed law comes as Cabinet ministers blame the violence on People against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad), while police and legal sources say the culprits could just as easily be the ganglords who roam the Western Cape. Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Penuell Maduna say intelligence reports clearly show the “terrorist bombers” are Pagad, or militant elements among it, like the G-Force. But they also admit they lack evidence that could stand up in court. Three people have died and at least 130 have been injured in 21 bomb blasts in Cape Town since June 1998. So far this year there have been eight blasts in the Mother City, plus a pipe bomb found and deactivated by three homeless youths before handing it to police. But the past four weeks have seen a renewed spate of violence, with four car bombs, all packed with fertiliser and a bomb tied to a tree.
Last week Wynberg Regional Court magistrate Pieter Theron was murdered in his driveway. This week Premier Gerald Morkel narrowly escaped injury when a bomb attached to a tree outside the Samaj Centre in Athlone exploded just after he entered the building.
Tshwete has defended his claim that Pagad is behind the violence by referring to the organisation’s slogans, like “One Prosecutor, One Bullet” or “One Policeman, One Bullet” and pointing to convictions obtained against 42 Pagad members. Five Pagad members have been jailed – not for bomb attacks but for murder, attempted murder and the illegal possession of firearms or pipe bombs. Other convictions have been for crimes ranging from intimidating a policeman to illegally possessing firearms or ammunition.
To date none of the anti-drug vigilantes have been charged with any explosions, despite persistent rumours that some could be linked to at least the August 1998 Planet Hollywood blast, which killed two and injured 25. Shahzad Ahmed, a senior researcher of intelligence and terrorism at the Institute for Security Studies, says it is simply too early to apportion blame. “For a minister to make a link straight with Pagad is irresponsible; any investigation is tainted by this.” Since 1997 millions of rands have poured into the province to stem the violence, first under Operation Recoil and later Operation Good Hope. Joint operational structures representing, among others, the police, intelligence agencies and the South African National Defence Force were established three years ago. The police’s crimes against the state unit – formerly the Pagad task team, drawn from the murder and robbery unit notorious for extracting confessions during the apartheid heyday – has failed to break the cycle of terror:
l In 1998 225 people died and 475 were wounded in 728 incidents involving pipe- bombings, drive-by shootings and arson attacks. Only 200 incidents were linked to Pagad, the rest to gangsters. l A study shows that in 1999 the number of such attacks dropped to 371 as the focus shifted to Cape Town’s police stations, restaurants, bars and gay venues. Intelligence operatives seem to be unable to produce accurate intelligence for successful arrests of the 100 G-Force members believed to be responsible. It has been two years since Western Cape intelligence officers claimed there were several independent, tightly organised cells existing throughout the Cape Flats. Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and police operatives have been implicated in several botched infiltration attempts. Jealousy between different agencies has led to public spats. l In 1997 Western Cape detectives exposed a police informant, Rushdien Abrahams alias Abu Jihad, who had infiltrated Pagad’s leadership. He was involved in a hand grenade sting that went horribly wrong when a grenade killed a pregnant woman. l In February 1999 former Pagad Gauteng coordinator Ayub Mungalee admitted he was an NIA informant and said he had transported gunpowder between Gauteng and the Cape. The agency denied all knowledge. l After ousted Pagad founding member Farouk Jaffer was killed in a drive-by shooting in July 1999 it emerged that he had helped intelligence services with investigations into Pagad. l In August 1999 Mungalee and former Soweto flying squad member George Kieser implicated a senior Western Cape policeman in arms smuggling. Kieser subsequently pointed out two arms caches on the East Rand.
l In October 1999 NIA informant and ex-soldier Mansoor Manuel, a key state witness against Pagad’s alleged pipe bomb manufacturer, Imam Moegsien Barendse, and two others, was linked to pipe bomb attacks while spying on Pagad. l In December police informant Deon Mostert implicated senior Cape police officers in the bombings of St Elmo’s Pizzeria and the Blah Bar at the end of 1999. His claims were denied without investigation at the highest police level. The NIA’s claim that it had warned the special investigative directorate on organised crime and public safety of threats against judicial officers before Theron was killed last week has also been denied. Head of the crime and justice programme at the Institute of Security Studies, Antoinette Louw, said South Africa’s various law enforcement agencies compete rather than co-operate and often end up blaming each other.
Analysts have asked whether criminal elements are taking advantage of a situation where they know that whatever happens, the usual suspect, Pagad, will be blamed. Recent targets like restaurants and nightclubs mean the possibility of protection rackets and the gang underworld cannot be ruled out. For example, the eight suspects arrested in connection with the abortive attack on a Cape Town woman magistrate in August are linked to the 170E000-strong Cape gang underworld.
But when a car bomb exploded at a Constantia shopping mall hours after the attempt on the magistrate, Tshwete immediately blamed Pagad, presumably because the magistrate is presiding over the trial of five anti-drug vigilantes arrested in the Karoo last February. Government now wants to fast-track the proposed anti-terrorism law to give it the tools Maduna and others say it lacks to deal with terror attacks. Many observers and commentators disagree such laws are needed.
Centre of Policy Studies director Steve Friedman says removing the perceived shackles of the police does not necessarily mean they will arrest criminals, but could lead to the arrest of those the police want the public to believe are the criminals. The General Council of the Bar last week said it had repeatedly asked for protection of judicial officials. “We are not aware that this has happened; [Pieter] Theron’s death now makes this imperative.” A legal source said the trend in Pagad cases seems to be to deny bail at any cost, inform the accused that other charges are pending and threaten rearrest on these other counts should the accused be freed on bail.