Remember that girl last month who ran away on Easter weekend and tried to catch a flight so she could join IS? Turns out she had a friend who was also planning on leaving South Africa.

South African State Security Minister David Mahlobo confirmed to journalists yesterday that there were indeed two girls from Cape Town who were caught in the nick of time. The second girl was apprehended just before boarding at Cape Town International Airport.

Mahlobo is clearly quite proud of himself, though:

The nice thing is that we are acting before these things happen.

I’m not entirely sure if something in this scenario can be described as “nice”. Lucky, maybe?

Apparently the first girl who tried to leave told security services and the Hawks about her friend, which enabled the interception.

Teenagers are being targeted by IS via social media. Already three Australians and several Europeans have been lured in. Mahlobo has met with the Muslim Judicial Council in Cape Town to talk about the situation.

We meet with a lot of people who are telling us, to say, ‘you know what, we have been dying in silence. Our children are recruited every day’.

He has also warned parents repeatedly to “monitor their children’s internet usage”.

[Source: IOL]