Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

2 min read
1 November 2022 | 13:00 CAT

Last week, the United States issued two terror warnings in Africa- one in Nigeria and the other in South Africa. Critics have since come out criticising the US government for the unverified and misleading information.

In contrast, the South African government dismissed the claims as the US did not communicate regarding the allegations.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, Defence and Intelligence analyst Helmoed Heitman says the warning is not the US surveillance issue.

“Americans have a lot of attacks on America in other countries, so they are prone to be more cautious than others are, so they will issue a warning – every time you pick up something not necessarily something happens,” says Heitman.

He adds that South Africa is not free from being a target for terrorist groups as the nation is much like Westen nations, which pose a threat to terrorists.

“You get the lone wolf, and they are not controlled by anybody – they are the risk in South Africa,” he says

However, Heitman says bigger terrorist groups might have more to lose if they target SA.

“I don’t think ISIS will run an attack in South Africa partly because they use South Africa as a transit for funds for meetings or communications,” he says.

Listen to the full interview here: