Zizi Kodwa: SSA working hard to strengthen counter-terrorism strategy

Deputy State Security Minister Zizi Kodwa said that the agency was hard at work to strengthen its counter-terrorism strategy.

Kodwa made the reassurance on Thursday night during an address at the National Press Club in Pretoria.

His comments come amid heightened concerns about national security following threats of a possible terror attack in Sandton this weekend.

Residents and business owners in the city have been on tenterhooks since the US embassy issued the alert.

While Kodwa doesn’t believe crowds in Sandton face any real risk, he has admitted the country’s terrorism strategy needed some work.

Other threats include organized crime and terror financing.

Kodwa said that the State Security Agency must still turn its attention to charismatic churches across the country.

“I’m worried about them and we are following up on them. One of those issues is the despondency of our people when they fall prey to some unscrupulous characters operating as leaders of charismatic churches. Wittingly or unwittingly, they become complicit in various acts of organized crime. With time, the government will make its position known around those churches.”