Johannesburg - The country’s intelligence agencies are keeping an eye on Islamic State’s recruitment of youngsters and South Africans in general.
State Security Minister David Mahlobo warned on Wednesday that the problem of IS had not gone away since a 15-year-old Cape Town girl was saved from joining IS in Syria last month.
The teenager was on an international flight when she was rescued by the authorities after being tipped off.
She was the first known South African teenager to have tried to join the Islamic militant group after two other female teenagers in the UK flew to Turkey and boarded a bus to Syria to join IS.
Also last month, two 18-year-old Australian brothers were stopped by authorities before they could board a flight to join IS.
The terrorist group has been recruiting people across the globe via social media since it captured swathes of land in Syria and Iraq.
Mahlobo warned people to be on the alert.
The minister told guests at a breakfast briefing in Cape Town on Wednesday that the government was keeping IS on its radar screen to check on its recruitment of girls and any other South African.
He urged South Africans to report any suspected recruitment of people to join terrorist groups and the involvement of people in crime.
The problem of IS had not disappeared, he told guests.
There were people that State Security and other intelligence agencies had stopped at the airports to join terror groups, Mahlobo added.
He said the information was sensitive and he would not divulge further details. But intelligence operations were continuing to prevent people from joining IS, he said.
“When these things happen, someone must be able to raise the flag.” Mahlobo refused to disclose more facts on the 15-year-old girl, saying it was sensitive information.
He said terrorism was a real threat that needed to be countered and that conditions were being created in the world for people to fall into the arms of terrorist groups.
Asked whether South Africa faced any immediate threat of terrorist attacks, Mahlobo said the likelihood was low.
“With respect to issues of crime, these are matters of concern. No one is immune from these barbaric actions,” he said, adding that a number of high-profile South Africans had been victims of crime.
Mahlobo said there were no turf wars between state Security and other intelligence agencies; they were all working well together.
Directors-general from various intelligence structures served on the National Co-ordinating Committee on Intelligence, making it easier for them to share information and compare notes.
Mahlobo reiterated that the country was not facing any immediate threat or danger and that it was “on course”.
South Africans tended to criticise themselves too much, he said.
Political Bureau