Johannesburg – The South African government has written to the High Commission of the UK government to review a travel advisory issued earlier this week.
The advisory came after news that a South African couple had been kidnapped in KwaZulu-Natal earlier this month.
READ: UK govt warns of terror threat in SA following kidnapping arrests in KZN
The UK government advised its citizens to exercise caution when travelling to South Africa.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said on Friday it had written to the UK government over its concerns about the removal of a sentence about there having been no terrorist attacks in South Africa in recent years.
"The department is concerned at the removal of the sentence that 'there have been no terrorist attacks in South Africa in recent years', which had appeared in previous iterations of the travel advice, and that a new sentence has been added to the travel advice that is linked to the issue of terrorism that reads: 'In February 2018 two individuals (dual SA-UK nationals) were kidnapped in KwaZulu-Natal province'," said Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
"The said kidnapping has not been proven to be linked to terrorism. The linkage that has been created by the travel advice is therefore viewed as premature. The isolated threats of terrorism that have been experienced in South Africa have been effectively and promptly dealt with," he said.
News24 reported on Tuesday that the Hawks announced that their crimes against the state unit – along with other law enforcement agencies, including the Durban police's crime intelligence division – had identified two suspects in the kidnapping case on February 16.
