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The South African government says it could neither confirm nor deny the presence of Hamas members within the country.
This after recent media reports said that there are individual members of the organisation currently in the county.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the state has no business whatsoever in looking at the existence of certain groups operating in the country at the moment.
She says Hamas was never declared as a terrorist organisation according to the United Nations directives.
“On the presence of Hamas in the country and they are regarded as terrorists, I don’t recall the UN classification of Hamas as terrorists. And we don’t, I am not tracking the presence of individuals in the country. We don’t know the Hamas office in South Africa. So, I can’t say there is Hamas or no Hamas. I don’t have that type of evidence but there is no UN declaration that classified Hamas as the terrorist organisation.”
