SA’s new ‘spy bill’ lacks sufficient checks and balances, civilian oversight – ISS
South Africa’s proposed new ‘spy bill’ lacks the civilian oversight mechanisms to avoid abuse of its intelligence services, whilst vastly increasing the scope of...
Southern Africa’s security hinges on actioning its organised crime strategy
Organised crime in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) seems to be worsening. Porous borders, weak governance and development deficits make the region vulnerable...
Corruption costs Africa $140 billion a year
Interpol’s just ended Africa conference in Luanda closed with delegates agreeing to increase information sharing in multiple crime areas from counter-terrorism to wildlife trafficking.
More...
SARS leads efforts to ‘break the back’ of coal syndicates
An inter-governmental search and seizure operation across five provinces was carried out on Thursday 12 October to ‘break the back of a sophisticated criminal...
Ramaphosa claims progress being made in combatting economic sabotage
Thousands of arrests related to the damage of essential and critical infrastructure have been made since June last year, with a further 70 people...
Nations expand their nuclear arsenals as global insecurity deteriorates – SIPRI
The number of operational nuclear weapons around the world is increasing as countries expand and modernise their militaries amidst a deteriorating global security situation,...
Global coalition to defeat ISIS to focus on African states
The Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS has established a focus group to help African states build up their counterterrorism capabilities, particularly for regions where...
Crime index shows deterioration in South Africa, which is now third worst-affected African nation
South Africa’s criminality score has worsened in the last two years, according to the 2023 Global Organised Crime Index (GOCI), which shows that South...
ECOWAS, UN join forces in counter-terrorism effort
Terrorism and violent extremism in West Africa are specific targets of a just-confirmed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between regional bloc ECOWAS and the United...
SA taken to task for not committing to SADC emergency ops centre
South Africa has been taken to task for being tardy in committing the country to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Humanitarian and Emergency...
Southern African emergency ops centre a step closer
Establishment of a humanitarian and emergency operations centre for the southern African region is a step closer with a tenth country committing to its...
ECOWAS gearing up to fight cybercrime
Preventing and fighting cybercrime in West Africa moved up a gear this week with the launch of a joint platform by regional bloc ECOWAS...
SA, Uganda talk regional safety, security at intelligence level
Senior South African Defence Intelligence officers were given an insight into east African intelligence actions and operations that stressed the importance of regional co-operation.
Attending...
Call to streamline and speed up SANDF deployments supporting police
An overview of the 2021 unrest by a presidentially appointed expert panel presented Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police with 34 recommendations for action to...
Burkina Faso Crisis Continues to Spiral
Following two military coups d’état in 2022, militant Islamist groups in Burkina Faso have moved to encircle Ouagadougou leaving a trail of unprecedented violence...
The Sahel is the world’s terrorism epicentre
The Sahel has emerged as the epicentre of global terrorism, with the region accounting for more than 40% of global terrorism-related deaths in 2022,...
Global Terrorism Index finds attacks down, but becoming more lethal
The Institute for Economics & Peace's (IEP) latest Global Terrorism Index (GTI) has found that last year, terrorism resulted in 6 701 deaths -...
ISS: Benin must target the illicit activities that enable violent extremism
Terror attacks in northern Benin have been on the rise since 2019. These incidents, attributed to the Group for the Support of Islam and...
Niger’s coup weakens regional fight against Boko Haram: four reasons why
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum was detained and deposed on 26 July by his military guard under the command of General Abdourahamane Tchiani.
The unconstitutional change...
Joint British/Kenya training exercise
British soldiers and their Kenyan counterparts exercise together with both militaries benefitting.
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and BATUK (British Army Training Unit- Kenya) recently wrapped...
Winning talk doesn’t mean Mozambique’s insurgency is over
The presidents of Mozambique and Rwanda have been making victory speeches about the Cabo Delgado insurgency being almost over. They are creating the impression...
Mozambican terror group is strikingly similar to Nigeria’s deadly Boko Haram
Terrorism is a global problem affecting many countries. Until 2017, however, southern Africa was largely spared from this phenomenon. The bloody conflict sparked by...
Africa Land Forces Summit (ALFS) seeks solutions to African terrorism problems
To address drivers of instability in Africa, prevailing regional threats, and solutions to Silafi-jihadists on the continent of Africa, Africa’s defence force chiefs met...
New KDF Chief
New Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Chief General Francis Ogolla took command of the East African country’s military might at the weekend, bringing to an...
AFB Waterkloof Il-76 arrival criticised
Last week’s arrival of a Russian Il-76 transport at Air Force Base (AFB) Waterkloof is, according to two opposition political parties, not good for...
Retiring Kenya Defence Forces Chief pays tribute to soldiers
Outgoing Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Chief General Robert Kibochi expressed appreciation and thanks to Kenya Army personnel deployed in national and regional theatres during...
Assault course to boost Kenya marines training
Kenya’s marine commandos have a new training aid in the form of a 500m long assault course, thanks to the United Kingdom government’s financial...
Terror groups prey on vulnerable, cost continent billions
Moustapha was running out of hope. The Nigerien man had a family to feed but little means to do so.
Like scores of people around...
Kenya, Uganda strengthen defence ties
Senior officers from the Kenyan and Ugandan defence forces met in Nairobi this week to further cement “engagement and collaboration as partners seeking sustainable...
South Africa’s intelligence agency needs speedy reform – or it must be shut down
South Africa’s civilian intelligence service, the State Security Agency, is a broken institution. It is meant to provide intelligence to forewarn the country about...
Wagner Group in Africa: Russia’s presence on the continent increasingly relies on mercenaries
Mercenaries have been a fixture in Africa since the second half of the 20th century. They have been used to protect incumbent leaders or...
Economic pressures drive extremism – report
A lack of job opportunities is the leading factor driving people to join fast-growing violent extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new...
Four hundred soldiers on duty at six power stations
While Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise approved and gazetted the deployment of up to 2 700 soldiers to protect Eskom infrastructure, the...
Benin becoming new frontline of expanding terrorism
Until November 2021, Benin had been spared from the kind of extremist violence that has ravaged its neighbor to the north, Burkina Faso.
Since then,...
ISS: Risks of Burkina Faso’s new military approach to terrorism
Fifty thousand Burkinabe civilians have joined the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) to fight the violent extremists currently occupying nearly half...
Legislative measures against terror financing on the way in SA
Before Parliament rose for the year-end recess, its Select Committee on Security and Justice adopted a report on an amendment bill to protect South...
Soldiers “scaling up” Eskom security welcomed as questions remain
“Scaling up security” at certain Eskom power stations by deploying soldiers is a welcome move according to Sahlulele Luzipo who chairs Parliament’s Portfolio Committee...
Soldiers guard Eskom power stations
Just on a month after Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise indicated soldiers could be deployed to protect power and rail infrastructure it’s...
Sandton terror alert: time for South Africa to improve its intelligence sharing channels with...
The announcement in October 2022 by the US embassy in South Africa of a possible terror attack caused a lot of confusion, concern and,...
ISS: Government’s priority must be safety and rule of law
From overcoming South Africa’s energy crisis to creating jobs and delivering services, government priorities depend on a safe socio-economic environment. But the country is...
Al-Shabaab in Somalia has resisted military force: now is the time for a new...
In October 2022, Somalia’s capital Mogadishu suffered yet another massive suicidal attack. More than 100 people were killed. Hundreds more were wounded and thousands...
ISS: Are red flags about Islamic State in South Africa alarmist?
Alarm bells about the threat of terrorism in South Africa have recently been sounding more stridently and more often. Are these false alarms or...
South Africa provides fertile ground for funders of terrorism – here’s why
The US embassy in South Africa has twice raised the alarm recently about terrorism in the country. On 26 October it issued a security...
SA “resolved” to fight terrorism – Gungubele
South Africa remains “resolved to combat terrorism and illicit financing activities” is the official government reaction to Monday’s United States (US) Treasury announcing “designation”...
Armed conflict and climate change: how these two threats play out in Africa
The world is falling miserably short of reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, a 2015 treaty to keep global warming well...
US names and “designates” ISIS cell in South Africa
The United States (US) Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) “designated” four members of an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)...
Poverty and inequality are a national security risk to South Africa
High levels of unemployment and poverty are a high national security risk to South Africa as they are drivers of crime and instability, and...
NATJOINTS explainer
In the wake of last week’s terror alert issued by the United States (US) Embassy in Pretoria, the South African government explains its National...
ISS: As terrorists claim new ground, an African strategy is vital
As Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda leaders have been targeted and eliminated internationally, the terrorist groups have expanded and consolidated their African operations. According...
Ramaphosa appoints new Intelligence Inspector General
Imtiaz Fazel is expected to start his five year term as the new Inspector General of Intelligence on Tuesday, following his appointment by President...
