The South African Presidency has dismissed a warning issued by the United States Embassy of a possible terrorist attack in the country, saying if there were any of such threats, the country’s security agencies were capable of dealing with them.
The US Embassy had issued the security alert on its website on Wednesday, warning of a terrorist attack planned at an unspecified location in the greater Sandton area of Johannesburg, on October 29, 2022.
But in response to the possible threat of a terrorist attack, the South African Presidency, in a statement on Thursday, said that its “security forces were fully capable of ensuring the safety and security of the country,” adding that if there were such threats at hand, the government would be the first to inform its people.
A statement issued by spokesman to President Cyril Ramaphosa, Vincent Magwenya said:
“Threats are assessed continuously and are acted upon to ensure the safety of all. Should the need arise, the South African government will be the first to inform the public about any imminent threat.”
A Minister in the presidency, Mondli Gungubele, who also commented on the terror alert, revealed that his country does not have information that could substantiate reports of the alleged terror attack in Sandton.
“I have checked this with my security unit and I will be saying up front we are a bit disturbed. This alarm has been going on but up to this point, it is not backed up by any evidence.
“Our teams have been following the matter for them to give evidence and they have not been able to do that,” Gungubele said.
South Africa’s dismissal of the US warning came a day after Nigerian authorities also rejected a similar warning by the US Embassy of possible terrorist attacks in Abuja, the capital of Africa’s most populous country.
While dismissing the threat, Minister of Information and Cultur, Lai Mohammed, said the Nigerian security agencies were equal to the task of dealing with any form of security threats and did not need the USA to send panic warnings to Nigerians.
“What I will say is that this is click-baiting, which is when you find a story which is not verified and you immediately share it, always causes panic. But I want to reassure both citizens, non-Nigerians, Nigerians living in this country, that security agencies are on top of this matter.
“This country is safe; and there’s no cause for alarm, no cause to panic. The security, our soldiers, our police are working round the clock to contain any terrorist attack. This is where we stand,” Mohammed said.