As France mourns, SA must be more vigilant
THE threat of global terrorism has never been greater. Acts of terror are increasing in number and audacity in Western cities and people around the world are having to learn to live with this threat.
On Thursday the world witnessed terror visiting France yet again. The target this time was Nice on the French Riviera. The attack left at least 84 people dead, including 10 children. Hundreds were still being treated in hospital yesterday. Fifty were said to be fighting for their lives.
They were killed or injured when a hired lorry was driven through the crowds that had gathered to celebrate Bastille Day. The driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, had entered the Promenade Anglais claiming to be delivering ice cream. Minutes later he delivered terror.
Yesterday morning, Islamic State, the militant group that is wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq, took responsibility for the attack and claimed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel as one of its own. The claim would have come as a surprise to many as French authorities had earlier described the driver as a loner who did not practise any religion.
He was a womaniser who was known to the police not for his terrorist activities or extremist views but for being a violent petty criminal. He had no direct links with terrorism, the French police said, and was not on the international terrorism watch list.
As the world woke up on Friday, the French were reflecting on a bloody series of terrorist attacks. It was only 18 months ago that two brothers stormed the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, gunning down 11 people inside the building and a policeman outside. Five more people were killed over the next two days by an accomplice.
Then on November 13 last year Paris was targeted again — with extremists killing 130 people during attacks on restaurants, bars, a concert hall and a stadium.
As the world reflects, asking why France is so often the target of terrorists and whether they can ever be neutralised, South Africans are coming to fear for their own safety.
If the events of the past few weeks are anything to go by, we have reason to be worried. What these events tell us is that South Africa, contrary to widespread belief, is not immune to terrorism.
The attack in Nice came a few days after identical twins Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, who converted to Islam only last year, were arrested for allegedly planning a terror campaign across South Africa, including disrupting the upcoming local government elections.
The Hawks say the brothers, together with siblings Ebrahim and Fatima Patel, were arrested in an anti-terror raid last weekend for allegedly planning to attack US and Jewish targets in South Africa.
The arrests demonstrate that South Africa can no longer deny the threat posed by extremist Islamist terror, as we did last month after the US, UK and Australian embassies informed their citizens in South Africa that they should be on alert for terror attacks.
Despite numerous warnings from experts that militant groups such as IS are operating cells and recruiting in this country, many among us still believe that we are insulated from these threats. The truth is we are not.
The government must strengthen both its technological and human intelligence-gathering methods if it is to win the fight against terrorism.