Security clamp down in Cape Town

South Africa’s Cape Town police on Friday introduced tight security measures after the murder of a prominent magistrate, news reports said. Pieter Theron, who presided over a number of cases involving a Muslim vigilante group, was driving in the southern suburb of Plumstead when he was killed in a drive-by shooting.

Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete said that he had no doubt the attack was motivated by the fact that Theron was handling cases involving members of the vigilante group, People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) group. “This is a clear indication that terrorist thugs are on a warpath against the state. The police, magistrates, judges, state prosecutors and state witnesses are clearly in the firing line,” Tshwete said.