Alarm over Islamic State in SA after recruit shocks family
THE parents of the Cape Town teenager who tried to join the Islamic State are devout Muslims who use social media to highlight the persecution of members of their faith.
Although authorities foiled the 15year-old’s bid to travel to Syria, more unnerving details of the presence of the terrorist group in South Africa have come to light — and the Iraqi ambassador to the country has warned the government again that South Africans are taking up the call to join IS.
The mother of the teen is a medical doctor who qualified at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, while the father, according to a friend, qualified as a pilot recently. Both are from Durban.
On his Facebook site, the father has posted a comment about an Israeli company operating in South Africa.
“u will find them in malls and airport lounges. in the sensitive area. i suspect they could be mossad agents. we need to draw attention to them and have them removed,” he wrote.
He indicates that he speaks English, Afrikaans and Arabic, and often posts photographs from an aircraft cockpit and images of his travels to Turkey and Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The mother posted a link about Gaza under attack in 2011. It contains, among other things, graphic images of mutilated children.
But a family friend, who did not want to be named, said the couple were not “radical by nature”. He described the mother as a “modest woman” and the father as “extremely soft”. The mother had travelled with Doctors Without Borders to work in Afghanistan, he said.
Like many in the community, the friend was shocked by the news of the girl’s plans.
“I know that little daughter. I don’t know her now as a teenager because he is very protective of his children. The father and mother are excellent. They are upright people. The father has a pure heart of gold,” said the man.
On Sunday last week, the 15-year-old, from a prestigious private school in Cape Town, disappeared from her family home in the suburb of Kenwyn.
Yusuf Abramjee, Crime Line head and a family friend, explained how events unfolded on the day.
“The family called me and told me she was missing. I advised them to go to their nearest police station to report it.
He is very protective. The father and mother are excellent. They are upright people
“About 30 minutes later her grandfather called and told me that Lansdowne police station members had refused to register the case [of a missing child] and told him to wait 24 hours.
“He also told me they were concerned because money was missing from the safe, as well as her passport. He also told me they had discovered papers relating to [IS] in her room. At this point I was so mad that I called the provincial commissioner, Arno Lamoer,” said Abramjee.
Lamoer alerted the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and the State Security Agency. All officials at airports and border posts were alerted.
“Luckily we found her just before the plane left Cape Town International Airport,” said Abramjee. The British Airways flight that the girl had boarded was bound for Johannesburg.
State Security Agency spokesman Brian Dube said an investigation was under way. He could not divulge details of how the teen was recruited, but said the authorities had spoken to her before she was handed over to her family.
Amir Sheikh, chairman of the Somali Community Board of South Africa, expressed concern about the possible presence of IS in Mayfair, Johannesburg, saying that a few nights ago a white vehicle was seen driving the streets, its occupants waving an IS flag.
“We have reported it to the police because clearly they are announcing that they are here — they are present in our community. As a Muslim community we cannot allow it to continue. We want police to track them via CCTV footage as we don’t want a backlash from the South African community, which will accuse us of harbouring operatives. We fear that this could ignite xenophobic attacks,” said Sheikh.
There have been several reports of South Africans who have joined the Islamic State, and the group released a recruitment video here last year.
In the video, a South African man says: “My strong wish is that I can see you all here.”
In February, there were reports that a Port Elizabeth family had joined the group, and two independent sources confirmed that more youngsters might have been recruited in the city.
Iraq’s ambassador to South Africa, Dr Hisham al-Alawi, has again called on the government to take action immediately.
“The South African authorities should take the threat posed by the extremist groups more seriously, and provide resources to implement a comprehensive national strategy to prevent the radicalisation and successful recruitment of young men and women by [IS] and the other terrorist groups, and to cut off any financial or logistical support the extremist group might currently have or get in the future,” said Al-Alawi.
Questions have been raised about the ability of the Cape Town teen to book an airline ticket and board a plane alone.
Comair, which operates British Airways in South Africa, said only passengers younger than 12 were considered “unaccompanied minors”. This was in line with International Air Transport Association regulations.
Although it is not clear what route the girl would have taken to Syria, it is believed that recruits fly to Turkey and cross the border into Syria by road.
The girl’s school principal, who did not want to be named, said the 15-year-old was a kind, considerate child who did well academically. He added she was an ordinary pupil who never got into trouble.
She had completed grades 8 and 9 at the school, then left for Durban with the family for a year. She had returned to the Cape Town school in January to start Grade 11.
The principal said the teen’s friends had said they had no idea that she had been in contact with IS operatives.
“There is concern for her wellbeing. The notion of her being en route to join [IS], supposedly, shocked everyone at the school who knows her. But that does not replace the concern we have in terms of what she is going through at present,” he said.
Martin Ewi, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said a girl such as this could prove beneficial to a militant organisation.
Many girls were recruited to serve as wives to soldiers, to participate in military operations or to do household chores such as cleaning and cooking.
“But a girl of this quality is a plus. She is coming in with a lot of technical capabilities. She is intelligent and smart. She can do a lot of things and that is what they want . . . She could serve as a spy,” said Ewi.
He said the Islamic State had more than 25 000 fighters and it was possible that it had cells across Africa.
A girl of this quality is a plus. She is intelligent. She could serve as a spy