Intelligence not aware of ISIS SA recruitment

Johannesburg - The state security department on Sunday said while it was not aware of South Africans being recruited for ISIS, it continued to monitor issues of terrorism.

"We are not aware of such recruitment that is taking place," said departmental spokesperson Brian Dube.

"As part of our normal work, the issue of terrorism is something that pre-occupies us. We are constantly in contact with partners across the world."

This was after a Sunday Independent report that, according to Iraqi ambassador to South Africa Dr Hushaim al-Alawi, three South African recruits for the Islamic State movement (ISIS) were killed in Syria, but their deaths were covered up as car accidents.

Al-Alawi told the newspaper that recruitment and fund-raising for ISIS was being carried out by groups in South Africa positioning themselves as offering humanitarian assistance.

He said one of the men recruited left from Cape Town with a group "that was meant to provide humanitarian aid" while another was recruited in Gauteng, by a group purporting to be "supporting refugees and orphans".

The newspaper reported that allegedly about 140 South Africans had left to fight for ISIS.