The Hawks are investigating, after an alleged explosive device was found in the parking area of the Jewish Community Centre on Hatfield Road in Cape Town on Friday morning, 6 December.
The premises are home to the historic Gardens Synagogue, the SA Jewish Museum, and the Holocaust & Genocide Centre. It had been the site of sporadic pro-Palestinian protests since the war in Gaza began.
The Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies responded to the incident, saying an “improvised explosive device” was thrown into the property and failed to detonate.
Executive Director Daniel Bloch says law enforcement authorities were notified immediately and they are together with all sectors of the security cluster to secure the safety of the Jewish community in Cape Town.
SAPS K9 and Bomb Disposal unit members examined the discovery, and after the object was declared safe, it was removed from the premises for the investigation.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the City’s Metro Police are assisting in the investigation, by analysing CCTV footage.
Hill-Lewis says his office received notification from the SAPS that an alleged explosive device had been thrown over the front wall of the Jewish Community Centre on Friday.
He says the Safety & Security Information Management Services (SSIMS) coordinates the investigation’s support.
While SAPS has not officially confirmed the nature of the device, they handed the file over to the Hawks, indicating the seriousness of the matter.
Hill-Lewis says they’ll be monitoring the investigation:
‘Should the SAPS investigation confirm that this was an attempted attack on the Jewish Community Centre, I know I would speak for all Capetonians in condemning such an attempt in the strongest possible terms.
‘Cape Town is a city of peace-loving people, where differences of faith and opinion are expressed loudly and fully, but always peacefully.
‘Our city has a long and proud history of being a safe city for people of all religions to live and express their faith and traditions. Let us all commit ourselves to protecting and defending the best of that history.’
