Minister blames anti-drugs group for blasts

South Africa’s Safety and Security Minister on Monday blamed the anti-drugs group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) for a spate of bomb explosions in Cape Town since November 1998.

Addressing diplomats and journalists at a briefing in parliament, Steve Tshwete said the police were focusing their attention on PAGAD as suspects in the bombing campaign. “Security data indicates one direction, and that direction is PAGAD,” said Tshwete.

Tshwete added: “The focus is on PAGAD’s armed wing, G-Force. We are not looking anywhere apart from PAGAD. There is no evidence pointing anywhere else.” Tshwete pointed out that a prominent PAGAD member, Sallie Abader, had threatened during last year’s visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, that PAGAD would make the Western Cape “ungovernable”.

Tshwete argued that PAGAD had moved from its original intention of combating gangsters and drug dealers, and was now waging a campaign against the state which he said could be likened to a “Muslim fundamentalist upsurge”. He said on many occasions, PAGAD leaders had publicly stated that President Thabo Mbeki’s government “was a Satanic state because of constitutionally enshrined gay and lesbian rights and also because of legal abortion”.

Tshwete’s remarks follow the killing of a prominent Cape Town magistrate outside his home last Thursday. Pieter Theron, who was presiding over a number of urban terror cases, was shot and killed as he arrived at his home, prompting Tshwete to declare: “We will be providing adequate security to all judicial officers involved in urban terror cases.”

Meanwhile, on Friday a 19th bomb exploded outside a cafe in the Observatory suburb of Cape Town in the continuing bombing spree in city that houses South Africa’s parliament.
Tshwete said so far 42 suspects had been convicted on charges relating to urban violence in the Western Cape, 78 related cases were currently before the courts, 58 suspects were in custody and a further 20 were out on bail. “These are the cases which have been finalised by the courts, which is an indication that when we point at PAGAD we are not thumb-sucking,” added Tshwete.

Tshwete said the police were bolstering resources in the Western Cape to counter the rising incidents of urban terror in the province’s capital. He said they would bring in more experts from around the country as well as seeking more assistance and advice from foreign agencies such as the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Britain’s Scotland Yard.