Radicalised individuals acting on their own can easily slip under the surveillance radar, writes Nick Piper THE terrorism warning issued by the US embassy in Pretoria on September 8 — which alluded to a potential attack against US interests on South African soil — further entrenches the idea that international Islamist extremist groups have a presence or influence in SA.But in media reports and analyst discussions on this, the concept of the self-radicalised individual has not been given enough coverage. This is surprising given the exposure to this risk that SA faces.Evidence of Islamist terrorist groups using SA as a safe haven has been around for the past decade. Since 2003, there have been cases involving al-Qaeda members using South African passports, and terrorism-related arrests of its members who had spent time in the country.Following the al-Shabaab attack in 2013 at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, it was confirmed that Samantha Lewthwaite, widow of one of the 2005 London bom...
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