‘Discredited informer’ behind US terror alert in SouthAfrica: Report
June 8, 2016, 8:54 am

File photo: The Mall of Africa in Midrand, near Johannesburg, South Africa [Xinhua]

Pretoria has officially said there is no cause for alarm and that its security officials were working to keep South Africans safe.

A News24 report on Tuesday quoted South African intelligence sources as saying the US alert was based on information provided by what South Africa believes is a “discredited informer”, an East African businessman.

South Africa has downplayed the ‘threat perception’.

“We remain a strong and stable democratic country and there is no immediate danger posed by the alert,” State Security Minister David Mahlobo said a day after the US issued the terror alert.

There are no known militant groups operating in South Africa, according to security officials.

South Africa’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Clayson Monyela reacted strongly on social media platform, Twitter, hinting at mischief behind the US alert.

“We have been briefed & believe we know what’s behind all these. I’m waiting for clearance before I can share…not all but enough. South Africa’s foreign policy does not make this country an enemy manufacturing factory. I won’t speak for others,” he tweeted.

https://twitter.com/ClaysonMonyela/status/740052528042246144

Monyela had, in a separate Twitter conversation with US envoy Patrick Gaspard, said the alerts “caused panic”.

The US embassy said it had received information that radical Islamist terrorist groups were planning to attack places where US citizens congregated – like shopping malls in Johannesburg and Cape Town – ahead of the Islamic month of Ramadan which started on Tuesday in the country.

The UK and Australia issued travel advisories for South Africa following the US warning.

Earlier last year in September, South Africa had denied any imminent danger to the country after a similar US alert.

TBP and Agencies