The youth wing of South Africa's rulingparty has demanded a thorough investigation into threats against the U.S.Embassy ahead of Friday's re-opening.
The African National Congress YouthLeague said it places confidence in the cooperation of Pretoria and Washingtonto ascertain the perpetrators of the threat.
An undisclosed security threat led to the closing ofU.S. government offices, including the embassy in South Africa's capital,Pretoria.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a press briefing inWashington Tuesday that "credible" information had been receivedabout a possible threat against the embassy.
Paseka Letsatsi is the spokesmanfor the ANC youth league. He tells reporter Peter Clottey that his groupsupports the outpouring of support for the embassy staff.
"TheAfrican National Congress Youth League will like to give the position on theprocess of investigating all the issues which happened in the U.S. embassiesthe right of government to investigate and find out the reasons why theseissues happened,"Letsatsi said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Mission expressed appreciation to theSouth African Government and in particular, the South African Police Service(SAPS) Division: Crime Intelligence, for outstanding cooperation and support.
The mission alsothanked members of the South African public for their good wishes and supportduring the embassy's closure.
Letsatsi said theyouth league is proud of the people's support for the American embassy.
"We do support the feelingof South Africans because we are convinced that South Africa remains a safeplace for people to visit," he said.
He expressed confidence inthe ongoing cooperation between Washington and Pretoria to ascertain the truth.
"We don't want to preemptwhat was the reason [but] we think that the South African government and theAmerican government will together establish and ensure that what happenedwithin this particular space of time [won't happen again]," he said.
Letsatsi said it is unlikelythe threats that led to the closing of the embassy will undermine SouthAfrica's huge tourism industry.