Amid a background of mounting terrorist threats in neighbouring nations, Catholic bishops in southern Africa have sounded an alarm that governments don’t seem sufficiently concerned by ISIS-related military and financial operations in the region.
Newsdesk (13/08/2024 09:58, Gaudium Press) The concerns were expressed during an August plenary assembly of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, which brings together prelates from Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland).
“Concerning is the recent news about the presence and financial operations of individuals linked to ISIS in South Africa. I have not heard much reaction from the government about this; perhaps it deems it insignificant,” said Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha in South Africa, president of the conference, during his opening address at the August 5-9 gathering.
Sipuka expressed fear that ISIS-fueled conflicts in neighboring nations such as Mozambique and Nigeria could reach into South Africa as well.
“The association of ISIS with the destabilization of countries like Mozambique and Nigeria raises concern, because it brings a lot of suffering among ordinary people, as evidenced in Cabo Del Gardo in Mozambique,” Sipuka said.
The bishops’ warning is backed by other international bodies that track terrorist activity, with various reports suggesting that ISIS uses South Africa as a center to shift funds from one part of the containment to the other.
In March 2022, the US Treasury Department had designated certain individuals and entities operating in South Africa as intermediaries in the financing operations of the transnational Islamist group. Specifically, it designated Abubakar Swalleh (“Swalleh”) as a South Africa- and Zambia-based ISIS operative involved in the physical transfer of funds from South Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the Treasury Department analysis, Swalleh also facilitates the movement of ISIS-affiliated individuals from Uganda to South Africa and vice versa.
Zayd Gangat (“Gangat”) was also designated as a South Africa-based ISIS facilitator and trainer, and the DRC-based Hamidah Nabagala (“Nabagala”) reportedly serves as an intermediary for ISIS financial flows in central Africa.
“These individuals serve as key financiers and trusted operatives, enabling the activities of ISIS and its leaders across Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa,” the report stated. “They also serve as critical links between far-flung ISIS operations, including ISIS affiliates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Somalia, and ISIS cells in South Africa, allowing ISIS leadership to leverage each affiliate’s capabilities to conduct terrorist attacks that undermine peace and security in the region.”
Mozambique has been the epicenter of terrorist violence since 2017 when ISIS-Mozambique, also called Ansar al-Sunna and locally known as al-Shabaab (unrelated to the Somali terrorist group), started its violent insurgency with the aim to overthrow the government and impose an extremist brand of Islam.
At least 6500 people have been killed in Mozambique, more than a million displaced, since the fighting started according to the UN.
In Nigeria, where the radical Islamist group Boko Haram started its murderous campaign in 2009, at least 52,000 people have been killed within 14 years, according to the Catholic-inspired NGO the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, known as “Intersociety.”
Sipuka believes it would be a scary prospect should that kind of violence visit South Africa, even as signs seem to suggest this might be inevitable.
“A site in Limpopo purportedly used for security training but allegedly bearing signs of a military camp has been discovered,” he said, adding that the presence of ISIS could worsen an already precarious security situation in a country beset by armed robberies, kidnappings, and stock theft syndicates.
Beyond security concerns, the bishops also assessed the conduct of the last general elections in South Africa and the direction the country has now taken with the formation of a national unity government.
Sipuka said the new government offers South Africa “a breath of fresh air” because the one-party government had become symbolic with stagnation.
“With the establishment of a government of national unity, there is hope that the focus will shift from party interests to policies and practices that will improve the lives of the citizens,” he said.
“The exciting part about the turnout of the election results is that South Africans are beginning to understand and practice democracy, prioritizing the common good before party loyalty,” Sipuka said.
The August 5-9 event saw the election of three prelates to take over leadership of the conference. Cardinal Stephen Brislin of Cape Town was elected president, Archbishop Zolile Peter Mpambani of Bloemfontein was elected first vice president, and Archbishop Siegfried Mandla of Durban was elected second vice president.
Their term begins in January 2025, and both Brislin and Mpambani said they would attempt to continue the “good work” of the outgoing executive.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
