Jihadist culture believed to be evolving in SA

THE Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria is all but defeated, but there is concern it is entering a new phase and has its eye on South Africa.

Lenasia and Mayfair in Johannesburg are, according to one expert, places where IS operatives are working to expand their footprint in the country, as the extremist organisation continues its goal of world domination.

Last week, Iraq’s ambassador to South Africa, Saad Kindeel, warned that IS fighters originally from here were probably making their way home, and that authorities should be on the lookout for them.

But Jasmine Opperman, a counter-terrorism expert at the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium, believes they are not the problem.

“South Africans who have returned have willingly agreed to co-operate with law and order departments, so the likelihood of those returning to engage in behaviour or communication that will expose a continued link to extremism is unlikely,” she said.

Opperman discovered while interviewing IS loyalists in South Africa that there was a directive that they do not make contact with people returning because it was known they were co-operating with law enforcement.

“We have active recruitment, we have active calls for expansion in South Africa, and that should be an overriding concern. Are we seeing the initial phases of a jihadist culture evolving in South Africa? Yes.”

But as Western states improve security and counter-security measures, IS has begun searching for new areas to expand.

The problem, Opperman said, is that in Africa there were clashing extremist Islamic ideologies like al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab.

“So what areas of Africa are left open for them to expand their footprint? That means not where they can attack, but where they can seek an organised footprint. What is left? Southern Africa.”

Defence expert Helmoed Heitman said he believed South African intelligence services on the ground were good. He also said that in the event of a terrorist attack, South Africa could draw on the SAPS Special Task Force and army Special Forces who were well trained and worked well together.