Pretoria - The whereabouts of an alleged ISIS terrorist and his bodyguard who were allegedly kidnapped three months ago from the Mall of Africa in Midrand remains unknown.
And the court has struck down an urgent application for the government to reveal what had happened to Abdella Hussein Abadigga and his bodyguard Kadir Jemal Abotose.
The two were allegedly snatched from the mall on the afternoon of December 29, last year.
It is claimed that the special forces members of the South African National Defence Force were involved in their disappearance.
Abadigga’s brother Abdurahim Abadigga turned to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg to obtain an urgent order for the State to declare the whereabouts of the men, or to produce them before a court for the latter to physically see them and then determine whether they had been lawfully detained.
Abdella was apparently last seen in an image on the mall’s CCTV footage while paying for his parking ticket on the afternoon of December 29.
Abdurahim said the only inference was that his brother and bodyguard were unlawfully abducted by members of the SANDF from the mall.
The Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans did not oppose the application, and contended that it was not obliged to file an answering affidavit because the abductees were not in its custody.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the Presidency filed a notice to abide by any decision the court made.
Abdella Hussein Abadigga is an Ethiopian who was placed under US Treasury sanctions alongside others, as it is alleged that he assisted the group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to gather support and finance for its Africa campaigns.
Events, reminiscent of a spy movie unfolded in court regarding the secrecy of the pair’s disappearance.
It is not disputed that the abductees entered the Mall of Africa driving in a Toyota Lexus motor and parked at level D2.
CCTV footage shows three other motor vehicles entering the parking bay around the same time and parking on the same level.
The vehicles were a white BMW, a white Mercedes Benz and a grey Audi.
According to the CCTV footage, the abductees had a meal in the food court and met with about seven people before leaving at approximately 12.01pm.
Abdurahim said his brother was then seen paying for his parking ticket at 12.11pm at the payment machine at level D2.
“The only reasonable inference in the circumstances is that he was intending to leave forthwith because a parking ticket only remains valid for exit for a short time after payment has been made.
“Yet, my brother did not leave the mall in the Lexus and it is only seen leaving the parking area approximately four hours later.”
But what happened to him and his bodyguard during and after is unknown, as there is no CCTV footage after the parking ticket was paid for.
Abdurahim told the court: “A matter of seconds after my brother paid for the parking ticket a male person dressed in civilian clothes is seen paying for three parking tickets. The BMW and Mercedes then raced to the exit, which was hastily opened by the mysterious ticket man.
All of this coincided exactly with the disappearance of the abductees, he said.
Abdurahim said footage also showed the man who inserted the parking tickets so that the two cars could get a speedy getaway, then returned to the mall where he paid two further parking tickets.
Next moment two more cars sped out, sandwiching the Toyota Lexus (which the abductees had arrived in).
Abdurahim said on enlargement of the footage of the person who paid the parking tickets, he is (seen) holding a purse with the emblem being that of the SANDF Special Forces Association.
The SANDF has subsequently conceded that that person was its member.
The brother later opened a missing person’s case with the police.
He said the duo were abducted as the SANDF was aware that Abaddiga was placed under the US Sanctions list.
The SANDF has denied knowledge relating to the circumstances that led to the disappearance of the abductees. It did not dispute that SANDF members were at the Mall of Africa on the day in question, driving the three motor vehicles mentioned.
But the SANDF said, the members were conducting a training exercise, which according to it, is performed from time to time. These kinds of exercises, according to the SANDF, are conducted to provide the members of the special force with intimate knowledge of the surroundings of the mall with a view to developing a rescue plan should the need arise.
The mall management did not know about the exercise.
Judge Edwin Molahlehi, however, questioned why Abdurahim had only turned to the court three months after his brother had disappeared.
“The applicant is silent about the reason for this delay. The explanation by the applicant's counsel that the reason for the delay was because the applicant had to investigate and verify the facts related to the abduction does not assist the case…,” the judge said.
He struck the matter from the roll due to a lack of urgency.
Pretoria News