Is South Africa the Financial Hub for ISIS in Africa?
The president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, which includes South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini, stated that the presence of ISIS-affiliated elements in South Africa does not concern the government.
In his opening speech at the general assembly of the conference, held from August 5 to 9, he mentioned that there has been little response from the government regarding recent reports of individuals linked to ISIS and their financial operations in South Africa, suggesting that these reports might be considered “insignificant,” according to the Fides news agency.
He emphasized the need to address this issue decisively, as ISIS is already causing significant harm to the populations of northern Mozambique, in the Cabo Delgado province. International investigations have indicated that the Islamic State uses South Africa as a financial hub.
In March 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department designated certain individuals and entities operating in South Africa as facilitators of the transnational jihadist group’s financing operations.
U.S. authorities had identified an individual residing in Durban who was funding the Islamic State’s activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo with money obtained through criminal activities (extortion and kidnapping for ransom).
Last March, the Counter ISIS Financing Group (CIFG), an international body led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Italy, released a report on the financial activities of the jihadist organization in Africa.
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The report stated that banks based in South Africa have become intermediaries for ISIS‘s financial transfers, with the terrorist organization using these channels to move money from its headquarters in Somalia to its regional cells.
The report also confirmed that “ISIS used banks located in South Africa to transfer funds from the GDP to ISIS in Central Africa,” according to the agency citing Archbishop Sibuka.
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In his speech, Archbishop Sibuka also referred to another serious incident in South Africa, namely the discovery of a military camp in Limpopo where 95 Libyan recruits were being trained, officially as security agents, but according to the police who raided the camp, it was more of a real military formation. It appears that the 95 Libyans belonged to General Haftar’s forces, which control Cyrenaica.
