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Have we learned nothing from apartheid? It is amazing how stories of an imminent terrorist threat in South Africa have circulated in the media, in taxis and on dinner tables in the past few days. The series of stories has been sparked by the arrest of two South African Muslims in Pakistan and, later, allegations that the pair were planning attacks in various South African sites such as the Carlton Centre and Ellis Park in Joburg, the V&A Waterfront and Parliament in Cape Town and the Union Buildings in Pretoria. What has been shocking is the way in which these reports made headline news even though there is no substance to them whatsoever. These allegations about planned terror attacks emanated from an unnamed Pakistani intelligence source but have become reported as though they are factual. Not many people cared to question where the information really came from and why it was disseminated as it was. Furthermore, Pakistani security forces often use torture as part of their interrogation. Even if such confessions had been made by Dr Feroz Ganchi and Zubair Ismail, they would have to be read with a great deal of suspicion. Despite the fact that we know nothing about the state of the two South Africans nor has our government been allowed access to them – as is required in terms of the Geneva Conventions – the talk on the street is that these two men are Al-Qaida terrorists that were waiting to strike in South Africa. It is surprising how people – including journalists – are willing to uncritically accept such dubious statements without asking why the men have not been charged, what the evidence is and whether they will appear in court. In South Africa, after all, we still believe that people are innocent until proven guilty. But the issue is more than just about Dr Ganchi and Mr Ismail. There have been rumours of Al-Qaida cells in South Africa, of South African Muslims going to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. None of these rumours have been shown to have any basis. And the latest story is even worse: it suggests not only that South Africans have been recruited by Al-Qaida but that they plan to attack sites in South Africa itself. The notion that South Africa could be a target of Al-Qaida attacks is utterly implausible. What reason at all could there be for such attacks? South Africa does not have troops in Iraq (and, in fact, opposed US unilateralism in its war on Iraq); the South African government has good relationships with the Palestinian Authority and has made clear its opposition to the Sharon government’s policies particularly with respect to Israel’s Apartheid Wall. And South Africans generally are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and oppose US imperialism and the war in Iraq. Further, there can be no possible purpose that could be served by the bombing of the Union Buildings, the Carlton Centre, the Ellis Park Stadium or any of the other so-called targets – to Al-Qaida or to anyone else. It must also be said that South Africa’s Muslim community is firmly opposed to any thought of such attacks on our soil. As Black South Africans, in the main, that have struggled against Apartheid, we cannot accept the endangering of our citizens as is suggested by these reports. The South African Muslim community, and Black South Africans more generally, are certainly opposed to America’s foreign policy, as we are to Israeli policies and to imperialism more generally. We will continue to protest against the role of imperialism in our country and around the world. But we will do so, as we have being doing so for the past decade, through legitimate means as guaranteed by our constitution. Finally, we are glad that this is South Africa. In a number of other countries, reports like the ones we have seen over the past two days could have led to racist and Islamophobic attacks. South Africans, thank God, are not so stupid.
na’eem jeenah
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