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This article discusses AI, counter-terrorism and extremism through the example of a South African teenager alleged to have been involved in a mall bomb plot and later a stabbing. It also quotes Professor Abel Esterhuyse and an ICCT study on how conversational AI can support extremist planning and manifesto drafting.
Mr Johan Mostert’s reflective essay examines the roots of student radicalism among white South African university students during the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing on his firsthand experience monitoring campus activism after the Schlebusch Commission, he explores the psychological and social factors that led certain individuals toward revolutionary engagement. Mostert argues that radical activists often shared a wounded or unsettled past combined with extraordinary emotional intensity—a temperament that sought a “cause” through which to express frustration and idealism. He contrasts this personality‑driven radicalisation with the broader, non‑violent student opposition to apartheid, noting that only a small minority embraced extremist ideology. The article provides a rare insider’s perspective on the intersection of personality, ideology, and political unrest in South Africa’s university environment.
