[dropcap]T[/dropcap]HE US has placed four people in South Africa on a sanctions list for organising illicit activities to aid the terrorist activities of Islamic State in South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the four were ‘financial facilitators’ for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and ISIS-Mozambique (ISIS-M).
‘ISIS members and associates in South Africa are playing an increasingly central role in facilitating the transfer of funds from the top of the ISIS hierarchy to branches across Africa,’ OFAC said.
‘The South Africa-based ISIS members designated today…have provided support for the aforementioned transfers or served as leaders of ISIS cells in South Africa.’
The four include Farhad Hoomer, who is said to have helped organise and start the operations of an ISIS cell in Durban; and Siraaj Miller, who is said to lead a Cape Town-based group of ISIS supporters, and to have trained members to conduct robberies to raise funds for the group.
He was said to have raised more than 1 million rand ($65,608.88) for his cell.
The other
s are Abdella Hussein Abadigga who has been accused of recruiting young men in South Africa and sending them to a weapons training camp; and Peter Charles Mbaga, who is said to have help ISIS-M to buy weapons from South Africa.
OFAC said that ISIS had recently attempted to expand its influence in Africa through large-scale operations in areas where government control was limited.
It said that ISIS branches in Africa relied on local fundraising schemes such as theft, extortion of local populations, and kidnapping for ransom, as well as financial support from the ISIS hierarchy.
OFAC said that Abadigga, who controlled two mosques in South Africa, used his position to extort money from
members of his congregation and send the funds through the informal money transfer system in the Islamic world, known as a hawala, to ISIS supporters elsewhere in Africa.
Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian E. Nelson said: ‘Treasury is taking this action to disrupt and expose key ISIS supporters who exploit South Africa’s financial system to facilitate funding for ISIS branches and networks across Africa.
‘The United States is working with our African partners, including South Africa, to dismantle ISIS financial support networks on the continent.’
