South Africa plays down terror warnings from western nations

South African officials have moved to reassure tourists after a series of warnings from western nations that there is a high threat of terrorist attacks against foreigners in the country.

Britain and Australia issued warnings yesterday, two days after similar advice was issued by the United States embassy in Pretoria.

The British warning specifically pointed to upmarket shopping areas and malls in the commercial hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town, widely regarded as South Africa’s tourism capital, as the most likely targets.

South Africa’s state security minister, David Mahlobo, said in a statement: “We remain a strong and stable democratic country and there is no immediate danger posed by the alert.”

Clayson Monyela, a foreign affairs spokesman, accused the US embassy of encouraging panic with a false alarm.

South Africa has a significant expatriate and tourist population that would be vulnerable to attacks on luxury hotels and shopping centres similar to those seen elsewhere on the continent.

High threat

Militants from the Somalia-based al-Shabaab group killed 67 people when they attacked a shopping centre in Kenya in 2013, holding security forces at bay for several days. There have been a series of strikes on hotels used by foreigners in west and northern Africa in the past six months.

“There is a high threat from terrorism. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners such as shopping areas in Johannesburg and Cape Town,” the British government said in a statement.

“There is considered to be a heightened threat of terrorist attack globally against UK interests and British nationals, from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria,” the statement said. It was not immediately clear what triggered the warnings. Security officials say there are no known militant groups operating in South Africa, which has only a small Muslim population. Experts said that although the warnings appeared to be unusually detailed and based on credible information, the risk remained low.

“Terrorism is evolving and so it’s much more likely that there would be an unsophisticated, self-radicalised type attack . . ., ” said local analyst Ryan Cummings.

Africa is increasingly spoken of as a “new front” in the global campaign against Islamist militant violence.

The Boko Haram movement has survived a government offensive against it in Nigeria and continues to inflict heavy casualties, while al-Shabaab in Somalia is resurgent.

The death toll from terrorist attacks in both countries has risen dramatically since 2011. – (Guardian service)