Guns found buried on a plot in Kliprivier in Gauteng should not be looked at in isolation and if police dig deeper, they could crack more cases, a security expert says.
Police this week confirmed one of the guns found at a shallow grave in Kliprivier have been positively linked to the 2020 New Year’s Day shooting in which two people were killed and several injured at Poppy’s restaurant in Melville.
In June 2020, Gauteng police arrested five people allegedly involved in a kidnapping syndicate, with officers at the time tentatively linking the gang to the Melville shooting. Four more people, including a woman, who are allegedly linked to the kidnapping syndicate, were also arrested. But police later downplayed allegations the suspects were linked to the shooting, saying detectives were investigating the nine for kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Willem Els, training co-ordinator for complex threats in Africa at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said the investigation should look at the bigger picture and the guns should not be looked at in isolation.
He said police should work closely on all the recent big arrests, including the November arrest in Bryanston of an alleged Israeli gang boss.
The latest crime stats released at the end of November showed that kidnappings were on the rise throughout the country.
Els said in most of the kidnappings, huge ransoms were demanded.
“We need to get to the bottom of where these ransoms end up.”
Els said South Africa had long been flagged as a breeding ground for international terrorism organisations to generate funding.
The impending greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), he said, would be devastating for the country as it would hurt the economy.
“There will be international ramifications for South Africa if they don’t act strongly. The ostrich syndrome is not going to work. For South Africa to think sticking its head in the sand tactic is a solution will not work. There are 17 instruments on counter-terrorism that must be implemented.”
TimesLIVE previously reported that the January and February 2020 attacks, the Kliprivier training facility and US sanctions form part of a larger investigation into South Africa’s growing IS activities, including stashing arms caches.
One cache under investigation, which included suicide bomb vests, hand grenades, assault rifles and explosives, was found in a Randburg basement in October 2017.
Police and Hawks sources, speaking about the New Year’s Eve shootings, said the links to IS were made after breakthroughs in cellphone, CCTV and ballistic evidence, which linked people and vehicles to the scenes. The shootings, which killed two and left 23 injured, occurred at Jolly Cools pub in Parkhurst, Poppy’s restaurant in Melville, Mary Fitzgerald Square and a shebeen in the inner city.
TimesLIVE, given insight into police and Hawks antiterrorism investigations, reported that the gunmen behind the shootings are part of a larger group of IS cells in South Africa whose members number is more than 300. They are the subject of the larger investigation.
A police source told TimesLIVE at the time the Kliprivier cell was responsible for four kidnappings for ransom, the murders of three Ethiopians and the assault of six Ethiopian businessmen, all of whom spoke out against IS.
TimesLIVE
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Discovery of Kliprivier guns could be breakthrough for police if they dig deeper, says expert
Image: Iavan Pijoos
Guns found buried on a plot in Kliprivier in Gauteng should not be looked at in isolation and if police dig deeper, they could crack more cases, a security expert says.
Police this week confirmed one of the guns found at a shallow grave in Kliprivier have been positively linked to the 2020 New Year’s Day shooting in which two people were killed and several injured at Poppy’s restaurant in Melville.
In June 2020, Gauteng police arrested five people allegedly involved in a kidnapping syndicate, with officers at the time tentatively linking the gang to the Melville shooting. Four more people, including a woman, who are allegedly linked to the kidnapping syndicate, were also arrested. But police later downplayed allegations the suspects were linked to the shooting, saying detectives were investigating the nine for kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Willem Els, training co-ordinator for complex threats in Africa at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said the investigation should look at the bigger picture and the guns should not be looked at in isolation.
He said police should work closely on all the recent big arrests, including the November arrest in Bryanston of an alleged Israeli gang boss.
The latest crime stats released at the end of November showed that kidnappings were on the rise throughout the country.
Els said in most of the kidnappings, huge ransoms were demanded.
“We need to get to the bottom of where these ransoms end up.”
Els said South Africa had long been flagged as a breeding ground for international terrorism organisations to generate funding.
The impending greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), he said, would be devastating for the country as it would hurt the economy.
“There will be international ramifications for South Africa if they don’t act strongly. The ostrich syndrome is not going to work. For South Africa to think sticking its head in the sand tactic is a solution will not work. There are 17 instruments on counter-terrorism that must be implemented.”
TimesLIVE previously reported that the January and February 2020 attacks, the Kliprivier training facility and US sanctions form part of a larger investigation into South Africa’s growing IS activities, including stashing arms caches.
One cache under investigation, which included suicide bomb vests, hand grenades, assault rifles and explosives, was found in a Randburg basement in October 2017.
Police and Hawks sources, speaking about the New Year’s Eve shootings, said the links to IS were made after breakthroughs in cellphone, CCTV and ballistic evidence, which linked people and vehicles to the scenes. The shootings, which killed two and left 23 injured, occurred at Jolly Cools pub in Parkhurst, Poppy’s restaurant in Melville, Mary Fitzgerald Square and a shebeen in the inner city.
TimesLIVE, given insight into police and Hawks antiterrorism investigations, reported that the gunmen behind the shootings are part of a larger group of IS cells in South Africa whose members number is more than 300. They are the subject of the larger investigation.
A police source told TimesLIVE at the time the Kliprivier cell was responsible for four kidnappings for ransom, the murders of three Ethiopians and the assault of six Ethiopian businessmen, all of whom spoke out against IS.
TimesLIVE
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