SECURITY experts believe the recent attacks on and spate of fires around government buildings and other structures could be linked to the current political climate in the country.
SECURITY experts believe the recent attacks on and spate of fires around government buildings and other structures could be linked to the current political climate in the country.
Several incidents point to serious security breaches at buildings that house some of the country’s most critical and confidential information. It is believed that setting fire to the institutions was an attempt to hide evidence of corruption or gain political power.
Just this year alone, there have been fires at Parliament, the Department of Justice in Cape Town, Waterkloof Air Force Base, and the Komani Town Hall in the Eastern Cape, to mention just a few.
Experts said the growing numbers of attacks on government buildings might be more than just casual incidents, and could have some political intent. They added that there was a possibility these attacks could be linked to political factions.
Crime expert and former head of the Crime Information Analysis Centre Dr Chris de Kock said there was a high probability that some of these attacks were linked.
“Here I specifically think of Parliament, the Constitutional Court and St George’s Cathedral,” said De Kock. “These buildings are symbolically linked. Parliament is where the laws of this country are made, and the Constitutional Court guards over our Constitution, while St George’s Cathedral is where the remains of the very beloved Archbishop Desmond Tutu were laid to rest,” he said.
De Kock added that Tutu and the late President Nelson Mandela were seen as voices of moderation and peace who led this country through a peaceful transition.
“When Parliament burned down, we saw quite a few people rejoicing because there goes a symbol of colonialism, apartheid and now white monopoly capital.
“When the Arch died, some basically referred to him as a ‘sellout’. These remarks on social media came out of the same quarters that supported the July riots.
“I look forward to the court case of Mr Zandile Mafe – well, that is if there is going to be one, and when,” he said.
De Kock said political factions or parties might have influenced these attacks.
“At least in the cases of the three buildings that I refer to, it may be three individuals who acted independently of each other, and from any party or faction of a party. These individuals’ minds may have been influenced by what is happening in SA politically, and especially what took place in July 2021. The possibility can’t be ruled out at this stage that there could be a link between these individuals and a political faction or party.”
De Kock said the SAPS Crime intelligence Division and the State Security Agency could be blamed for these attacks. He believes there are at least two political factions in these organisations – namely, a President Cyril Ramaphosa faction and a Zuma/radical economic transformation faction.
The intelligence operators in these factions are not busy gathering and analysing intelligence on organised crime, corruption and threats against the state and the constitutional order, but are instead spying on each other as well as their opposing faction, De Kock said.
Neels Swanepoel, a professor of public law at the University of the Free State, said last year’s riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng had shown how easily discontent could be stirred by a few protagonists, leading to extreme attacks and damage.
“When any society is continually subjected to vitriolic political rhetoric and evidence of the state disintegrating into a failing state, the expression of severe civil protest will logically happen.
“And in such a volatile environment there will always be the opportunists who will, usually on the instructions and urging of ‘puppet masters’, rise to take extreme measures such as the burning of buildings,” said Swanepoel.
He added that the puppet masters set the scene to advance their causes.
“Part of such tactics is to make the country as ungovernable as possible to advance ‘the revolution’. Of course, we all know from where such dogma originates and its results,” he said.
Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee, however, differs from the experts. He said the incidents did not appear related, but the authorities needed to get to the bottom of them.
“In some cases, arrests have been made, and that’s good. We need to see convictions. Political motives? I have no such information, and speculation would be reckless,” he said, adding that the intelligence community had to wake up.
Dr Johan Burger from the Institute of Security Studies also said there was no reliable information to justify finding that there was a connection between these attacks.
He added that, if the dire socio-economic conditions in the country were not addressed in a meaningful way, the potential for discontent, frustration and violence would continue to rise.
“This could lead to spontaneous uprisings, but could also be ignited by instigators at any time of their choosing. We cannot rely on the security services alone to deal with such eventualities.
“However, it is critically important that their ability to act against such occurrences is drastically improved,” said Burger.
Other attacks on government institutions:
*March 18, 2017: the Office of the Chief Justice in Midrand was broken into, and computers containing information about judges were stolen.
*April 14, 2020: a suspect was arrested after the Hawks’ offices in Bellville, Cape Town, were burgled.
*July 21, 2020: some 17 bikers who claimed they were owed money were arrested for setting the offices of the Department of Economic Development alight.
*April 18, 2021: the Johannesburg office of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture was burgled. A computer and two monitors were stolen.
*5-8 November 2021: the Hawks’ office in Port Shepstone, KZN, was broken into and cocaine worth about R2 million stolen.
*January 2, 2022: a fire broke out in Parliament.
*January 5: the windows of the Constitutional Court were smashed.
*January 7: the Department of Justice and Constitutional Services building in Cape Town was torched.
*January 23: a fire broke out at Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria.
*January 26: the City of Johannesburg’s Metro Centre in Braamfontein was robbed and 20 desktop computers vandalised. This was the second incident in less than two weeks, after the building was burgled and six desktop computers damaged on January 14.
*January 30: Komani Town Hall, which houses the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, was gutted by fire.
*February 3: the library in Ezakheni, KZN, was set alight.
*February 6: a fire broke out at St George’s Cathedral, where the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s remains were buried.
Sunday Independent
