Monitor: Reaction to the bombing of Planet Hollywood in Capetown

WE MUST exorcise this evil now. There have been claims and denials as to who was responsible for last night's bomb. Who but deeply evil people could presume to have the right to kill and maim others - innocent fellow citizens, perhaps even members of the very community they themselves come from - in pursuit of their ideological views? If those responsible for this atrocity believe that they have made a telling point against American attacks in Afghanistan and Sudan last week, then the evil loose in the city is linked to an almost incomprehensible stupidity. They have reinforced the conviction that they are a scourge which must be eradicated.

If this evil is allowed to flourish, the prospect of religiously-motivated urban terrorism on the horrifying scale of Northern Ireland will become a real possibility and it will bring misery to every citizen of Cape Town. We can avoid that frightening prospect if all good people join hands to eradicate the evil before it spurs more bloodshed and begins to feed upon itself.

Cape Argus, South Africa

WHILE CAPE TOWN is famous for its scenic Table Mountain, beautiful sea views and tourist-oriented shopping plazas, officials will be investigating whether the bombing is related to the city's lesser known side - an increasingly violent battle between drug lords and Muslim vigilantes in the impoverished Cape Flats slums on the other side of the mountain. This is a conflict which has escalated over the past two years.

Chicago Tribune

WE MUST make it clear that an act of terror is not an acceptable response to any grievance, legitimate or otherwise. Acts such as this will only serve to create greater divides between the people of Cape Town than apartheid ever did. Something inherently evil has been loosed on Cape Town. We call on every responsible citizen of Cape Town to work against this kind of terror and brutality and to work for legitimate and peaceful forms of political expression.

There is only one response to an evil such as this: to hunt down the perpetrators tirelessly, leaving no stone unturned, and bring them to justice. There can be no excuse for this kind of mindless brutality.

Woza (Internet)