On 19 December 2024, the think tank Research on Islam and Muslims in Africa (RIMA) published NESA Center alumnus Hussein Solomon's latest article, "South Africa and the Ostrich Method of Counter-Terrorism."

"The SSA [State Security Agency] stressed that it was following up on various research and media reports that the country was being used by terrorists. At face value, this sounds positive but one would expect that our spooks, given the enormous resources at their disposal, would be ahead of journalists and academics when considering terrorist threats. However, whatever positive was accomplished with this statement was immediately undermined by the second part of the statement – the SSA belief that many of the reports lacked evidence. This is in keeping with the position of successive South African governments – playing ostrich – putting their head in the sand and downplaying the terrorist threat posed," writes Solomon.

Read the full article.

About the Author

Dr. Hussein Solomon is Senior Professor in the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He was previously Head of Department of Political Studies and Governance, University of the Free State. His most recent book was African Security in the Anthropocene (with Jude Cocodia), Springer 2023.

About the Publisher

Research on Islam and Muslims in Africa (RIMA) is a think tank solely dedicated to Islam and Muslim countries and communities in Africa and the Diaspora.

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