The recent bomb blasts in the popular tourist city of London has forced countries around the world to examine their own ability to prevent similar attacks.
Institute for Security Studies analyst Anneli Botha says a distinction has to be made between domestic and international terrorism.
The arrests in South Africa in recent years of members of People against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) and the Boeremag after they were implicated in a spate of bombings have shown that South African security authorities are effective in making arrests related to domestic terrorism.
But she believes the government is too reactive when dealing with such threats.
”I don’t think the government sat down and thought, ‘What really happened there?’, and many of these groups’ issues remain unaddressed.
”There was a recent call in Cape Town for Pagad to reform,” Botha says. ”There is concern over the use of [the drug] tik and they still have socio-economic problems.”
Pieter Groenewald, spokesperson for the Freedom Front Plus, says many Afrikaners believe the government is not fulfilling its constitutional obligation to protect them.
Affirmative action, rural safety and the erosion of language rights are of great concern, as are calls at a recent land summit for the scrapping of the willing-buyer-willing-seller policy.
”If there is expropriation of land, there will be conflict,” says Groenewald.
However, a clarifying statement from a high-ranking government official is often all that is needed to defuse tension, he added.
Recently, the country was surprised by a spate of protests against poor service delivery but, according to Botha, being able to voice concern and protest against the government is positive.
”It is when this avenue is closed or extensively countered that one might become concerned since a link exists between the suppression of legitimate dissent and terrorism.”
‘Different ballgame’
Although South African authorities have been effective in dealing with threats to domestic security, international terrorism is ”a different ballgame”, with more than 12 000 attacks recorded last year in countries from Algeria to Iraq.
Botha continues: ”You are working with extremely clever people who don’t want to be detected. They build up a cover for themselves with a different identity and keep their views to themselves. They work as individuals.”
Colleague Richard Cornwall adds that the large immigrant population, identity-document fraud and the country’s excellent communications facilities make South Africa a good place to network.
Zambia this week agreed to the extradition to Britain of a man wanted in connection with the London blasts. He reportedly sold CDs at a flea market in Johannesburg’s Fordsburg. South Africa has already allowed the extradition to the United States of a man implicated in blasts at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and another request is being considered for a man allegedly linked to al-Qaeda.
Botha says South Africans could feel a sense of immunity from terror attacks because of the country’s liberal foreign policy towards the Middle East.
”But,” she cautions, ”London also believed they might be spared.”
South Africa’s police say that in addition to working with other government departments to prevent terrorism, they cooperate with the United Nations’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, and National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi is president of Interpol, where information is regularly shared among member countries.
The Airports Company South Africa said it works with security agencies in line with international and national aviation-safety guidelines.
Security at Johannesburg International airport is currently being improved with the arrival of a group of airport-trained police officers and constant police patrols, private security companies and a network of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
The ubiquitous CCTV that played a large part in the London blast investigation has been credited with reducing crime levels in central Johannesburg by 80%.
But Neville Huxham of Johannesburg’s Cueincident says: ”Nobody can pick out a suicide bomber.”
South Africa ‘far too reactive’
So, how does South Africa protect itself from attacks or, in the words of Cornwall, from its citizens becoming ”collateral” in the pursuit of other targets? Botha believes that breaking down barriers and addressing the underlying causes of the attacks is part of the solution.
”South Africa needs to be far more proactive — we are far too reactive.”
Communities should have their ears to the ground, and countries should share information more often. There is also a need for communication and to break down barriers created between communities after the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington.
”If we can break down the barrier between ‘us and them’, it will be a huge breakthrough.”
Part of the search for the perpetrators of terror attacks has been racial profiling.
Moulana Suleman Goga, of the Council of Muslim Theologians, says: ”As Muslims in South Africa, we do feel disturbed by the frequent, often baseless allegations made against Muslims. Generalisation against a community is not proper.”
Goga said Muslims are grateful to the South African government for the freedom of expression they enjoy, but other governments and agencies are not happy about this and have pressured the government to implement laws that curtail certain basic rights of citizens.
In the context of global ”terrorism”, this places Muslims in South Africa in an awkward position, he says.
Botha says the media play an important role in the reporting of terror attacks.
Writing ”15 to 20” words on an attack in Iraq but giving huge coverage to a Western target needs to be addressed.
Another important tool is the observance of due process when arrests are made. In this regard, South Africa is ”light years ahead of the US”.
”If you don’t play according to the rules, you fuel terrorism.” — Sapa