Cape Town - The Ministry of State Security will investigate how a 15-year-old Cape Town girl’s trip to join the ranks of Islamic State (IS) was organised and funded after she was taken off a Joburg-bound flight.
Her “traumatised” family are relieved that the teenager’s plan to be recruited by the terrorist group was thwarted when she was taken off a Joburg-bound flight on Sunday afternoon as local authorities got wind of her plans.
The teenager admitted that she had planned to join IS in Iraq and Syria. Her family was deeply shocked, according to community leader Hanif Loonat.
“The family is highly traumatised and they were not aware of their daughter’s plans of joining IS. They thought she was missing, they reported her as missing.”
Loonat, who lives in the same neighbourhood as the family in Kenwyn, said he had spoken to them and was trying to help them as far as he could.
“The family is innocent, they had no idea what was going on. She is not the only child being enticed to join IS. I know of many South African kids in a similar situation.”
Loonat added that the case was under investigation and that it was a very sensitive matter.
Loonat said he pleaded with youngsters to avoid the trap of being lured by a “baseless agenda”.
“This fight has no moral agenda and it is criminal. It is not what you think it is, it is not what Islam stands for, and Islam does not teach to kill people from other religions.”
The family declined to speak to the Cape Argus on Monday, but it has been reported that the teen has been released into their care.
State Security spokesman Bruno Dube on Tuesday morning said the ministry would investigate what led to the plane trip and how it was funded.
The girl was taken off a British Airways flight to Joburg, where it is believed she was to board an international flight.
The police and the Department of State Security were notified after her disappearance and documents found in her bedroom set off alarms.
The evidence suggested she had transferred money to an unknown source, and other clues written on her schoolbooks suggested to her family that she had been in contact with IS recruiters.
A neighbour confirmed that the girl had recently mentioned to his daughter that she was considering joining IS. She had become increasingly politicised over the past month, according to the neighbour.
State Security Minister David Mahlobo said: “An investigation is under way as to how far this network goes, whether there is a cell in the country, and what the methods of recruiting and funding are.
“We cannot allow South Africa to be used as a recruitment space.
“It is unclear whether the South African girl was heading to Turkey, which is the preferred route for recruits who are then taken by road across Turkey to the border with Syria. In order to counter the aggressive recruitment of youngsters by IS, a lot of work has to be done.”
Dube added that the recruitment of youngsters for Isis could be avoided if everyone took an interest in preventing children from falling victim to the extremist group.
“We need parents and the community to take an active interest in what their kids are doing online. These recruiters are becoming clever by using technology against us … we must counteract that with vigilance.
“I can’t, at this stage, put a number on how many young South Africans have been targeted, but what I can say is that this is a global problem.
“Since South Africa is an international player, it is only natural that these people would look to recruit here,” he said.
Muslim Judicial Council secretary general Abdul-Khaliq Allie said the organisation had been made aware of the incident and was launching its own investigation.
It would comment once that had been finalised. “We have people on the ground looking into this.”
The girl’s attempted recruitment follows on the heels of Sharmeena Begum, the British 15-year-old girl who was lured by IS propaganda to go to Syria last December.
Begum was the first of four teenage schoolfriends who were recruited to join IS, and is believed to be in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria.
Extremists had contacted Begum by cellphone, knowing she was vulnerable after her mother’s death from cancer and her father remarrying. – Additional reporting by Kieran Legg and ANA.
Cape Argus