Durban - The South African driving licence held up next to the body of an alleged Islamic State (IS) terrorist by an Iraqi soldier on Twitter, has been verified as authentic by South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs.
Departmental spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete said on Sunday that he could not comment further.
On Monday the licence owner, Aqeel Abdul-Haq Kloberie’s mother, a Durban resident, was still anxiously awaiting news from the authorities about the fate of her son.
Joyce Snyman, 70, of Umbilo, is clinging to the hope that her son is alive despite the picture of his licence appearing on the internet on Thursday.
On Sunday, she said she was haunted by new images on the internet of a soldier in Ramadi Province standing next to a body while holding the licence.
Read: SA man in IS mystery
Snyman is desperate to know whether Kloberie, 44, was a suspected IS fighter or in the wrong place at the wrong time.
She last had contact with him in June and since then his phone had gone unanswered.
Kloberie left South Africa for Bahrain in March to work as a radiographic tester (RT). Previously, he had been to several countries including Saudi Arabia, England, Nigeria and Russia to work in oil refineries.
In South Africa, he had worked at Eskom’s Medupi plant.
“We talked about normal things, about his family and his young children, and he sounded fine. We speak often at length. If he doesn’t call me in the week I call him,” Snyman said, recalling their last telephone conversation.
If the news updates on social media were to be believed, Kloberie was an IS terrorist, killed a few days ago in Iraq in a blast.
The Twitter post, by @IraqLiveUpdate, showed the South African licence bearing the details of Kloberie being held by a soldier.
The text with the image read: “Dead Daesh terrorist held South African driver’s licence! #SouthAfrica joins the club..#Iraq.”
Another site, @TerrorMonitor, wrote: “A #PMU Fighter Displays A Seized #SouthAfrican Driver Licence Recovered From A Killed #ISIS Militant.”
PMU refers to the Shia Popular Mobilisation Units fighting against IS. Daesh is another name for IS taken from the Arabic acronym.
Snyman’s 13-year-old grandson alerted her to the Twitter post last week after he received a tweet from his aunt in Australia.
“My son did not like taking pictures. That is how staunch a Muslim he was. Now Iraqi news is saying the body matched the licence. We are waiting for official confirmation. Until then we remain hopeful,” she said.
Kloberie, born a Christian, became a Muslim in 1991.
He practised the teachings of Islam with friends from his neighbourhood.
At Sydenham’s Bechet High School and during his youth, he was an ardent swimmer and rapper. He had three children.
Snyman said after school he began renouncing all Western ideologies and even burnt a prized collection of rap music.
“He was an introvert, so it was difficult getting any information from him. For three years he moved between Johannesburg and Durban. He was a very skilled person and I fear he may have been used by the terrorists to make bombs. He could have been killed by mistake. My son is not a terrorist,” Snyman said.
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