South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has criticized the US for failing to discuss a terror alert issued by the American Embassy with local authorities.
The embassy warned on Wednesday that one of South Africa’s wealthiest suburbs may be the target of an attack this weekend, and advised its staff members to avoid crowds of people and other large public gatherings. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office issued a travel warning echoing the US statement.
“It was quite unfortunate that the US government issued that type of warning without having had a deep-dive type of discussion with us,” Ramaphosa said Thursday at a briefing in the capital, Pretoria.
“It is unfortunate that another government should issued such a threat as to send panic among our people.”
The authorities are working to verify the threat, and the government will issue an alert if need be, he said.