Attack on Cape Jewish offices – ‘terrorism’

Cape Town Jewry was exposed to what experts have called “terrorism” for the first time in many years when an improvised explosive device (IED) was thrown into the Jewish community offices precinct in Gardens, Cape Town, last Friday, 6 December 2024.

The IED was discovered undetonated on the property at 10:30. The property contains offices for most Jewish community organisations, including a women’s group, a youth movement, a fundraising organisation, and a Jewish newspaper.

A protest was planned to take place outside the same address on 9 December, highlighting the building as a target. The South African Police Service (SAPS) has now handed the case to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) for further investigation.

“We have evidence showing the perpetrators committing the act, and all available evidence has been handed over to the authorities,” says Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape SAJBD) Executive Director Daniel Bloch.

Terrorism expert Professor Hussein Solomon said, “Given developments in Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East, there has been a rise in antisemitism, but this is at a completely different level. It’s definitely terrorism. Much of the militant antisemitism has been in Cape Town, so it doesn’t surprise me that this happened in Cape Town.”

He believes South African Jewry needs to be even more vigilant. “There’s a need for the South African government to watch its tone when responding to developments in the Middle East to ensure that it doesn’t stoke the fires of antisemitism,” he says.

Solomon says the South African security establishment needs to take these threats seriously, and work with the Jewish community to ensure its safety.

Ryan Cummings, director of analysis at Africa-focused risk management company Signal Risk and an expert in terrorism, agrees that the IED is “a concerning development for South Africa’s Jewish community. While extremism has been less pronounced in South Africa compared to other areas of the continent, South African Jewry has previously been targeted by acts of violence by fundamentalist groups such as the Qibla-sponsored PAGAD [People Against Gangsterism and Drugs] movement which, albeit in a reformed guise, remains active today.

“Within the context of heightened antagonism towards Jewish interests as a result of developments in the Middle East, there are serious concerns regarding the security of the Jewish community in the country, which could be held accountable for geopolitical developments over which it has no control,” says Cummings. “To this effect, South African authorities should be taking threats against the community seriously and seek to reassure, rather than downplay the safety concerns of Jewish citizens during this time of heightened tensions.”

However, News24 downplayed the incident, reporting just before Shabbat on 6 December that the item found wasn’t an IED. This was possibly because an official SAPS statement said “SAPS responded to a possible explosive device” and that it was “too soon to speculate what the object is and who placed it at the location”. The news website later corrected its statement, but extremists pounced on the mistake, saying that the Jewish community and its leadership were spreading fake news to gain sympathy.

Professor Glen Segell, who has written about terrorism in Africa, says an IED thrown at a Jewish site, whether it exploded or not, “is an act of terrorism”. He says the South African government needs to make a strong statement against all forms of terrorism, and “government and police need to show that they are in control”.

As soon as the IED was discovered, law enforcement was notified. “SAPS K9 and Bomb Disposal Unit members investigated the discovery, and after the object was declared safe, it was removed for further investigation,” says SAPS spokesperson Colonel André Traut.

Bloch says that since 6 December, the SAJBD and the Community Security Organisation (CSO) have been working closely with the SAPS and City of Cape Town law enforcement. “Their support has been greatly appreciated, and they have taken this attack extremely seriously,” he says.

He says for more than two years, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions coalition, the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, and other organisations have been standing outside the Jewish community centre and other Jewish facilities “spewing hate speech, spreading misinformation, and calling for the death of Israel and death of Zionists.

“The antisemitic hatred we have seen on social media – the use of classic antisemitic tropes and Holocaust inversion, and lies and mistruths spread by anti-Israel movements – only inflame hatred towards the Jewish community, our supporters, and friends,” Bloch says. “This could well have led to this disgusting act of terror on our community. It further justifies our actions in already taking four individuals to the Equality Court for hate speech and antisemitism. Words matter.”

In a message to the community, Cape SAJBD Chairperson Adrienne Jacobson said the Cape SAJBD, together with the CSO in Cape Town would “take every action to protect our community physically, politically, and to the full extent the law allows”, and that they were “working together with all sectors of the security cluster to secure the safety of the Jewish community in Cape Town. Every South African should stand together with the Jewish community and all peace-loving citizens to condemn this attempted action unequivocally.”

This was echoed by Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who released a statement on 10 December saying that Cape Town Metro Police assisted SAPS with analysis of CCTV footage “to get to the bottom of the incident, with the city’s support for the investigation being co-ordinated by the Safety & Security Information Management Services. While SAPS has not officially confirmed the nature of the device, it has handed the file over to the Hawks, indicating that they view the matter with great seriousness.

“Should the SAPS investigation confirm that this was an attempted attack on the Jewish community, I know I would speak for all Capetonians in condemning such an attempt in the strongest possible terms,” said Hill-Lewis. “Our city has a long and proud history of being a safe city for people of all religions. Let’s all commit ourselves to defending that history.”

In response to the event, CSO Cape Town heightened security protocols across the community. The measures are continuously monitored and adapted as needed.

“This disgusting act of terror against our community deserves the unqualified condemnation of all political and religious leaders in our city,” says Bloch. “We trust law enforcement and the security cluster to deploy all available resources to apprehend the perpetrators, and for them to be dealt with to the full extent the law allows. The Cape SAJBD will continue to defend our community from those who seek to harm us.”

Despite the incident, “our community remains resilient, strong, and united, and our Jewish way of life will continue to thrive”, says Bloch. “We look forward to welcoming visitors and showing them what the Cape Town Jewish community has to offer. We ask our community and all visitors to remain vigilant while enjoying summer in our beautiful city.”

Report any suspicious activity or potential threats to an emergency line available 24/7: 086 18 911 18.