Cape Town – Britain has not issued a fresh terror alert for South Africa, but amended its travel advice for the country last month to warn that it faces a high risk of terrorist attack, the high commission in Pretoria said on Monday.
“The safety of British nationals is our top priority and we keep our travel advice under continuous review,” spokeswoman Isabel Potgieter told the African News Agency (ANA).
Read: Britain warns of possible terror attacks in SA
“We updated our travel advice for South Africa on May 20. This makes clear that there is a high threat from terrorism in South Africa.”
However, she said the high commission has not advised against travelling to South Africa.
The travel advisory on the high commission’s website reads: “There is a high threat from terrorism. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners such as shopping areas in Johannesburg and Cape Town.”
It was widely reported on Monday Britain had raised the level of its travel warning in the wake of an alert sent out by the US embassy in Pretoria.
The US mission warned that it had received information that terrorist groups were planning to carry out “near-term attacks” on places visited by American citizens such as shopping malls in leafy suburbs.
This was not the first such warning from the US government, which also issued an alert in 2015.
However it sparked a diplomat incident when South African international relations spokesman Clayson Monyela objected in a tweet to US ambassador Patrick Gaspard, saying: “The last advisory by @USEmbassySA to US citizens in SA warning of an ‘imminent attack’ proved to be a false alarm. I see there’s another 1.”
Gaspard countered: “The price of freedom is eternal diligence, and through Grace we are all made safe. The only false note is arrogance.”
Monyela then retorted: “I won’t engage you on that road Amb. You know my views on these advisories and the panic they cause.”
On Monday, the state security ministry said it was in contact with US authorities and the alert was a “standard precautionary communication”.
State Security Minister David Mahlobo added: “We remain a strong and stable democratic country and there is no immediate danger posed by the alert”.
African News Agency