Minister of State Security

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss reckless pronouncements made by ‘security experts’ on the establishment of ISIS cells in South Africa. One such example that appeared in the media was:

“Both in South Africa and across the globe, there are clear links between home-grown extremists and the phenomenon of global radical Islam, which we are constantly monitoring, and is of great concern to us.” “...Radical extremism is growing day by day, and it is irresponsible to ignore it…”

We also expressed our concern regarding members from the security cluster visiting mosques and Islamic centres questioning congregants about their religious affiliations; more specifically whether they belong to the Sunni or Shia faith communities. This is being done by those who want to convince the public that South Africa is facing a potential threat from Muslims in order to get the government to act in a particular way and create certain partnerships. UUCSA presented statements of the collective response to radicalisation from various Muslim organizations to reflect sentiments expressed by the mainstream Muslim community and also statements from various media houses profiling Muslims pursuant to the Verulam murders