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The public is becoming increasingly alarmed, as explosive devices have been found planted at various Woolworths stores in Durban.

Two devices were detonated, causing a fire at the store located at the Gateway Mall, as well as a detonation at the store in the Pavilion on Thursday, July 5.

On Saturday, the SAPS bomb squad had to be called to the Woolies branch at Gateway after an explosive device was found on the premises.

Coincidentally or not, another two devices were also found attached to two cars near the Durban July horse-racing event on the same day, and were safely removed by the police for investigation.

This picture of the bomb retrieved from Gateway can be found here.

IOL reports:

Police on Sunday confirmed all three incidents, saying that a case in terms of the Explosives Act had been opened.

[Willem] Els, a former police officer who was with the bomb squad for 23 years, said from looking at the picture of the device he could tell that it was made by a skilled person.

“It looks technically advanced – there might not be a detonator in it, but it might detonate due to the confinement of the content. We do not know what the content is, but it remains a possibility,” Els said.

While these explosives could be linked to terrorism, Else believes that it may have to do with extortion:

We will recall that something similar happened with Pick n Pay where some of the canned products were found to have been poisoned. While the objectives of the Woolworths incidents are still not clear, it could be that those responsible want Woolworths to pay for something.

If that’s the case, then perhaps the same person who planted those devices is also gunning for Spar as well.

Per a report by TimesLIVE, the SAPS’ Explosives Unit was called to the Spar in Austerville‚ Wentworth‚ after another “suspicious device” was found in the store on Monday afternoon.

Here’s a video showing an explosion believed to have occurred at the Spar:

Video footage of an explosion at what is believed to be Wentworth Spar. Police confirmed that a suspicious package was examined but insist it was not an explosive device @matthewsavides @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/czL4IoND9u

— Jeff Wicks (@wicks_jeff) July 9, 2018

Very hectic stuff, considering six of these devices were found within five days in Durban.

As a report by The Daily Maverick points out, the Gateway bomb highly resembles the explosive device found at the Imam Hussein mosque in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, a few days removed from the horrific knife attack at the same mosque:

Are we possibly dealing with the same person or group responsible for targeting Woolies?

It’s possible, says African Defence Review director Conway Waddington:

It seems reasonable to presume that these devices are from the same source. It seems highly unlikely that more than one person or group would decide to start constructing or planting or detonating devices of the same basic design, in Durban, at the same time.

Signal Risk analyst Nick Piper agrees to an extent with Waddington, but he reckons that we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions. His interpretation of the events are as follows:

These quite clearly are not devices set out to cause casualties or mass damage. It suggests that we are not dealing with groups with bomb-making capabilities. This is not the modus operandi of sophisticated outfits …

The Durban devices appear wholly home-made. They appear to be unique in their use in South Africa as far as I am aware …

This could just as easily be a means for somebody to gain vengeance or air grievances.

Even so, if the source of the bombs in Verulam and Woolies are indeed one and the same, it’s safe to say that these recent events need to be taken very seriously.

KZN Premier Willies Mchunu has called for calm while the police investigate. Tread carefully out there, Durbanites.

Read the full Daily Maverick article here.

[sources:iol&timeslive&dailymaverick]