Whatshot
Through My Eyes
Through My Eyes
Date: 2013-10-04
Personally I am still reeling in shock from the horrendous atrocity, which took place in Nairobi. Women have always been known to be the compassionate ones, the nurturing and loving so where did this criminal come from?
Apparently, she grew up middle-class in suburban England, and was considered an average girl in every way. Her father, was a former British Army soldier-turned-lorry driver; her mother, Christine, a housewife. She has one older brother, and friends recall that as early as primary school, Samantha Laithwaite was a pretty and popular girl.
When she divorced in 1994, she took it hard but seemingly no harder than most of her friends whose parents had split up. She wasn't particularly ambitious and was an average student, but she was a good girl who was shy around boys, considered by classmates to be exceptionally warm and decent.
Today, we know her as the White Widow, and she is the mastermind behind the attack on the Westgate Mall, which took place in in Kenya last week.
However, Samantha who is just 29 years old, has been known to the police since her husband detonated a bomb in London's subway system, killing himself and 26 innocent commuters. She was pregnant then and very quickly she became the subject of national sympathy.
So, how did this nice young girl grow up to become one of the world's most wanted terrorist?
More importantly how will her connection and ties with South Africa affect our peace and stability and our immunity from the ever-growing threat from international terrorist groups.
A terrorism expert at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, Anneli Botha, told The Telegraph that she believed there was a "tremendous threat brewing" in South Africa, with our country not so much a direct target of extreme Islamist terror groups but a "very active role player."
She also said that our country has become a convenient hiding place and base for operations, in part due to the availability of passports obtained through corruption or with fraudulent documents, she said she believed Al-Shabab, the group that claimed responsibility for the Nairobi attack, would have no compunction about attacking a target in South Africa.
What we know today is that when the white widow, Samantha Laithwaite's husband blew up a London subway, she played the grieving victim and then she became a killer. What we don't know is how big the Al-Shabab movement is in South Africa and what terror plans they have in store for us. I guess I will be keeping out of the malls for a while.