Pandor confirms existence of ‘White Widow’, her links to SA
THAT the “White Widow” is a myth was dispelled yesterday as Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor confirmed the existence of Samantha Lewthwaite and that she had made multiple trips to SA.
The international police agency Interpol yesterday issued an internationally wanted persons alert for Ms Lewthwaite, a British citizen who has been dubbed the “White Widow” after the Nairobi mall attack.
Ms Pandor told a media briefing yesterday the South African passport fraudulently issued to Ms Lewthwaite was cancelled two years ago.
The British national has been linked to attacks resulting in the deaths of more than 70 people, including a South African. The notice was circulated to Interpol’s 190 member states, saying Ms Lewthwaite is wanted on explosives and conspiracy charges dating back to 2011.
Ms Pandor said Ms Lewthwaite’s passport and those of her two children were cancelled because they had been “fraudulently acquired” using late registration of the birth process under an assumed name of Ms Natalie Faye Webb.
The department is going through legal channels to stop the practice of late registration and to ensure that infrastructure is available throughout the country to capture the registration of children at birth. She blamed the late registration process saying it contributed to compromis- ing the integrity of the national population register.
However, safety measures had been taken since the Lewthwaite case in 2011 to ensure that new passport applications were compared to the national population register, Ms Pandor said.
Kenyan authorities suspect Ms Lewthwaite is the infamous “White Widow” alleged to be a supporter and financier of people linked to the Somali terror group al-Shabaab and that she may have been among the terrorists who stormed the upscale Westgate Shopping Mall on Saturday. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the operation.
Ms Pandor said Ms Lewthwaite was first recorded having entered the country on that passport in July 2008. She subsequently made several re-entries on the passport.
The minister said the document was last used when she exited SA in February 2011 and was immediately cancelled and flagged when it emerged that it was fraudulent.
Ms Pandor said further investigations had to be done into the acquisition of the passport and how it was issued. “What we need to do is look at the applications office and check who processed it and how that person met the requirements to be granted a passport.”
Ms Pandor said Kenyan authorities had not yet contacted South African officials about Ms Lewthwaite’s alleged involvement in the terror attack, or that she had entered Kenya using a South African pass- port, since the matter had been dealt with satisfactorily in 2011.
News of the “White Widow” surfaced on Monday after the terror attack. An Eyewitness News investigation established Ms Lewthwaite worked as an IT specialist at a halaal pie factory in Lenasia. According to the report, the company’s owner, who did not want to be identified, said the Briton kept to herself.
Eyewitness News also reported that Ms Lewthwaite owes as much as R60,000 for unpaid credit cards, loans and clothing accounts.
Ms Pandor said the government would assist Kenya in any way possible.