South Africa: Tokyo Sexwale warns of regional escalation of terrorism – Watch

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South Africa: Tokyo Sexwale warns of regional escalation of terrorism – Watch

6:18 CAT | 30 Mar 2021

Image: SABC News

South African businessman and senior member of the African National Congress (ANC), Tokyo Sexwale, said on Monday that Pretoria fears that terrorism in Mozambique will spread to South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The former ANC official, who owns the island of Quilalea in the Quirimbas archipelago, north of Pemba, told SABC News on Monday evening that “the Islamic terrorism” afflicting South Africa’s neighbour had been descending Africa’s eastern seaboard and was now “next door” to South Africa.

“This problem of Islamic terrorism associated with Mozambique is now at the gates of South Africa. It has been coming down the east coast of the continent, and it is been snaking its way further south. We are going to be very concerned here (in South Africa],” Sexwale said.

The South African businessman said that the 70 employees of his tourist resort in Quilalea had fled to Pemba, and that access to the Quirimbas archipelago has been cut off by the recent terrorist attack on Palma. “The islands, the famous islands of Mozambique, the Quirimbas have shut down,” he said,

Asked about a possible solutions, Sexwale started by saying that, “of course, people are going to die, whether we have armies there or not and I can very well understand that the leadership of Tanzania, of Mozambique, of South Africa of Zimbabwe, and other areas that should be affected, is going to think twice before sending people,” to assist in the fight against terrorism.

However, he said that, “you don’t wait for people to come here, you send out your soldiers, you send out security, out there – so that you don’t have to fight the battle back at home”.

“It’s not an easy decision for the leadership of this country (South Africa),” he added, “but, it’s either we stop this thing happening in the neighbouring countries, or it is going to stop you in our own country.”

Tokyo Sexwale also told the SABC about “very serious information” that he had tried to communicate to the Minister of Defence [Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula]: “I also spoke to our comrade , the new High Commissioner of South Africa, Siphiwe Nyanda, because these [terrorist] groups have other plans beyond Mozambique.”

“Obviously, if the President here were to commit assets, I ‘m talking about military and other logistical assets, to Mozambique, tit comes at a price. It’s not going to be an easy decision, But we can’t sit and fold our arms here, and hope that this thing is going to go away. ,It is not going to go away,” he said.

“The security of this own country is important. We cannot sit back and be spectators in this situation. Leaders are going to have to act and they will have to act in concert resolutely,” he said.

The businessman and senior member of the ANC, the former South African liberation movement in power in the country since 1994, also pointed out that “intelligence comes from the ground, it’s not something from CIA or KGB, these are ordinary people who are making certain observations”. For example, “information on how weapons are being accumulated about the movements of some of the terrorist groupings.,,

“Remember that these are not people coming from Timbuktu or some God forsaken place. They are from Mozambique These are people reacting to the conditions that are there but also are being lured into this islamic extremism.(…) But there are other alarming indications on which leaders must take decisions”.

“Right now, with 600,000 displaced people in Pemba alone, that’s a humanitarian crisis inasmuch as it is a military challenge. Therefore, leadership will get this information. information that needs to be corroborated, but it’s there and it’s dangerous, even for us here in South Africa,” Sexwale said on Monday. “These armed groups have their own intentions,” he warned. “When South Africa goes in [in Mozambique] they will also want to hit back in their own way.”

“In West Africa, there is an identical terrorist phenomenon that has spread from the north to Nigeria, while this has been affecting the region from Egypt, down through Kenya, Tanzania and now Mozambique. So, we are the last country. The situation is serious,” Sexwale said in conclusion.

South Africa has sent a military plane to northern Mozambique where at least 43 South Africans have been affected by the recent terrorist attacks, a South African diplomatic source announced on Monday.

Source: Lusa / SAbC News