Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, expressed regret on Thursday at the US Embassy's "unfortunate" decision to issue a warning about an alleged terrorist attack over the weekend in the nation without first consulting with his administration.
"It is quite unfortunate the US issued that type of warning without having any type of discussion with us," the president stated at a presser. "Any form of alert will come from the government of the Republic of South Africa and it is unfortunate that another government should issue such a threat as to send panic amongst our people."
The prospective target identified by the US diplomats in the issued security alert was Sandton, a suburb of Johannesburg, the nation's financial center and a cluster of upscale stores, tall office buildings, and banks.
Pretoria, according to him, is "working around the clock to verify and to look very closely at this message that came from the US."
Earlier, the South African presidency issued a statement on behalf of the republic's government, saying that it had "noted" the terror alert of the US diplomatic mission, which is "part of the US government’s standard communication to its citizens."
However, the government stressed that the security forces of South Africa are tasked with making sure that everyone feels safe there. Law enforcement officials are keeping an eye out for any dangers to the people, the country, or its sovereignty.
"Threats are assessed continuously and are acted upon to ensure the safety of all," the statement read. "Should the need arise; the South African government will be the first to inform the public about any imminent threat."
In recent years, there have been several warnings regarding alleged impending terrorist attacks in South Africa, although none have happened.
A similar terror alert for Nigeria was issued by the US and three other Western nations, namely the UK, Canada, and Australia, on Tuesday. In the nation's capital, Abuja, non-essential diplomatic personnel are being transferred.