The Hawks on Monday confirmed that a suspicious device found at the Imam Hussain Mosque in Ottawa, near Verulam, on Sunday night, was a bomb.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said members of their explosives unit are now ascertaining what chemicals were used in the bomb.
He said the incident was “strange” because the mosque had been thoroughly searched after a stabbing incident where one man died and two others were wounded.
The mosque and several nearby residences were evacuated on Sunday night after the bomb, attached to a Nokia cellphone, was found inside the mosque.
“What is strange to us is that the place was thoroughly searched by the police on Thursday night [after the stabbing incident] and on Friday, the whole day the place was searched and no such device was noticed or found,” said Mhlongo.
Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the mosque on Sunday.
Mhlongo said congregants had partially cleaned the mosque on Saturday and found nothing.
On Sunday, when cleaning continued, the device was found behind the pulpit.
In a violent attack on Thursday, three men, dressed in salaah tops and armed with knives, entered the mosque to pray.
They then proceeded to stab Moulana Ali Nchinyane and Muhammad Ali.
Abbas Essop, who worked close to the mosque, rushed to the scene to offer assistance.
His throat was slit and he later died in hospital. Several rooms in the building, including the library, were set alight after a petrol bomb was hurled into the mosque. The suspects then fled in a vehicle.
No arrests have been made but a manhunt for three suspects is underway.
ANA