Four members of the Muslim vigilante group Pagad are
currently on trial in Cape Town on charges of bombing the
Wynberg Synagogue in November 1998.
Pagad, an acronym for People Against Gangsterism and Drugs,
has long been regarded as a front for Muslim extremist
organizations in the volatile Western Cape region. The
organization is suspected of being behind a number of
terrorist attacks in the city over the last three years, the
most serious being the detonation of a pipe bomb at Planet
Hollywood Restaurant shortly after United States warplanes
attacked suspected Muslim terrorist bases in Sudan. Two
people were killed and 25 injured in this incident. In a
later attack on the Blah Blah Bar, a Jewish teenager was
seriously injured, losing a leg.
The attack on the Wynberg Synagogue took place during
Chanukah and coincided with a U.S. air strike on Iraq. There
were no injuries although damage to the facade of the
building was fairly extensive. Preliminary reports from the
trial indicate that the perpetrators had originally been
instructed to bomb the Sea Point synagogue but changed their
plans after learning of the high level of security there as
well as the difficulties of making a safe getaway.
The most recent incident in Cape Town has been the detonation
of a car bomb outside New York Bagel deli at the beginning of
May this year. Damage and injuries were fortunately
negligible. It is uncertain at this stage whether there was
an antisemitic motive behind the attack.
