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DATE=9/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SAF-BOMB (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-266420
BYLINE=CHALLISS MCDONOUGH
DATELINE=JOHANESBURG
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
INTRO:  South African police say a bomb has exploded 
outside a community center in Cape Town late Tuesday, 
injuring at least seven people, none of them 
seriously.  The blast appears to have been targeted at 
a political party meeting, just hours after South 
Africa's parliament finished a debate on the recent 
series of terrorist attacks in the Western Cape 
region.  VOA Southern Africa Correspondent Challiss 
McDonough has details.
TEXT:  Police say the bomb exploded at about Eight p-m 
local time outside the Samaj community center in a 
predominantly Muslim suburb of Cape Town.  The injured 
were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment while 
police sealed off the area to search for evidence. 
The regional premier (EDS: Governor,Gerald Morkel) of 
the Western Cape narrowly escaped injury in the blast.  
The device went off just as he entered the Samaj 
center for a meeting of his political party, the 
Democratic Alliance.  
Police say the bomb -- which was tied to a tree 
outside the building -- appears to have targeted that 
meeting.  But the blast site is also located less than 
100 meters away from the Gatesville Mosque -- a 
traditional gathering site for the Muslim vigilante 
group known as PAGAD, short for People Against 
Gangsterism and Drugs.  
The government has blamed PAGAD for more than 20 
bombings around Cape Town in the last two years.  The 
attacks have shaken the popular tourist region, 
killing three people and injured more than 100.
Police and local politicians are afraid the situation 
is getting worse. Tuesday's bombing is the sixth in 
the Western Cape in the last month.  
Just hours before the blast, Parliament debated what 
to do about the escalating security crisis in the 
Western Cape.
National Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete on 
Tuesday told lawmakers he has no doubt that PAGAD is 
responsible for the bombings, and for last week's 
assassination of regional magistrate Pieter Theron.
PAGAD denies responsibility for the attacks and has 
challenged Mr. Tshwete to prove his allegations.  
(signed)
NEB/CEM/PT
12-Sep-2000 19:00 PM EDT (12-Sep-2000 2300 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.