Growing terrorism is a major threat to international peace and security and needs greater attention, while the South African Government must be bold and use its seat at the United Nations to condemn Ukraine for its alleged involvement in supporting terrorists on the continent.
This is according to former Member of Parliament and now MK Party Northern Cape Coordinator Raseriti Tau, who made these remarks on Monday 12 August to over 200 participants of the executive meeting of the Northern Cape branch of the Youth United for Global Peace and Prosperity.
The Northern Cape chapter of the group held its first meeting on 12 August in Kimberley, focusing on terrorism threats in Africa, the vulnerability of Mali, and South Africa’s peace and prosperity.
“We need to have more engagements on the threats faced by our country and the continent. We further need to mobilise the broader Civil Society to guard against the so-called peace timers such as Ukraine,” he said, making reference to allegations that Ukraine is sponsoring acts of terrorism on the continent, such as its participation in Sudan and the use of a Ukrainian-manufactured drone in a recent terror attack that killed scores in Mali.
The country’s activities resulted in strained diplomatic relations between Mali and Ukraine.
Tau told delegates that over the last two years, some of the most violent terrorist groups have expanded, increasing their presence in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger as well as southward into the Gulf of Guinea.
This affects South Africa too. Last week, the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Unit raided an illegal firearms training base in Modimolle and seized a large quantity of firearms and ammunition. This forms the second bust of security training companies operating irregularly, following the uncovering of 95 Libyan nationals at a farm outside White River in Mpumalanga who were undergoing military training.
Tau said there is suspicion that such militants were being funded by foreign agencies that sought to topple governments on the continent.
Addressing delegates in Kimberley, the former MP urged participants to pay attention to the birth of the separatist movement of the Tuareg and the MNLA, as well as the role of the Islamist movement al-Qaida in the North.
Referring to Mali, he said, “Following the 2020 coup, a brief period of military rule was followed by a civilian-led transitional government. In May 2021, the transitional government was overthrown by the military, and Assimi Goita, one of the 2020 coup leaders and former transitional government Vice President, was sworn in as President,” he said, adding that developments should not be seen in isolation or any different from the US-led overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
He drew parallels to how the outcome created a breeding ground for the emergence and resourcing of insurgents in the northern part of Mali.
“The result of that overthrow left an abundance of military weapons and artillery which the insurgents used effectively against the government of the day in Mali. The subsequent withdrawal of France and the UN peacekeeping missions in 2022 and 2023 respectively created space for the insurgents to launch an avalanche of attacks against the government. This led the Malian government to seek the intervention of Russia to bolster its security capacity as well as build peace and stability while combating terrorism in the region,” Tau explained.
This recent discovery of the Ukrainian drone in Mali forced both Niger and Mali to plead with the United Nations Security Council to investigate Kyiv’s support for militants in their respective countries.
Terrorists in Mali, from the Azawad group, have recently attacked Mali’s state military forces and Russian instructors.
After the operation, the militants fled to the territory of a neighbouring state. This meant that the problem of terrorism can only be tackled through joint interstate work, Tau said.
Mokwaledi is a writer based in the Northern Cape.
