UPDATE: ISIS suspect was a resident of Umdloti

A man believed to be linked to ISIS terrorist group lived in Umdloti for more than a year. 

Sayfydeen Aslam Del Vecchio (38) and his wife Fatima Patel (27) were arrested by the Hawks Crimes Against the State, Durban Serious Organised Crime Unit and Durban Crime Intelligence, two weeks ago in Ngoye, Mtunzini.

They are suspected to have been involved in the kidnapping of South African-Britons Rodney and Rachel Saunders.

The couple appeared in the Verulam Magistrates Court yesterday, March 1. They were remanded in custody until March 6.

Del Vecchio and Patel had apparently used the quiet North Coast town as an occasional hideout.

Also read: Suspected ISIS members hide out in Ballito

It has come to the Courier’s knowledge that Del Vecchio lived in Umdloti last year when he allegedly torched Tongaat Hulett sugar fields worth about R2 million, after they demolished a tree house that he built in a forest belonging to Tongaat Hulett, between Umhlanga and Umdloti.

He had also allegedly been open about his affiliation to ISIS. 

An Umdloti resident said the man was known as Thomas Del Vecchio before he converted to Islam.

The Italian raised suspicions when ISIS flags were spotted in his flat in Bellamont Road, Umdloti. He had been living with a woman but it is unclear if this was Fathima Patel.

“The owner of the flat had been trying to sell the place so when potential buyers went for viewing, there would be ISIS flags hanging up. The couple did not have much furniture, just a mattress on the floor,” the resident, who asked not to be named, said.

Attention had been drawn to Del Vecchio after he built an “elaborate” tree house in the forest between Umdloti and Umhlanga and hunted animals with a bow and arrow.

“He drove a four-wheeler and we would see him driving into the forest but we he was so clever because he built the tree house in a place where there was no trail.

“One day a local fisherman spotted the roof of the tree house from the beach.

“When we visited the place, we saw that it had been quite the established abode. It even included a toilet, deck and shower but he cut down a number of protected trees to build it. There were a few arrows kept in the tree house as well. We also found a buck hanging outside.”

Tongaat Hulett communications executive Michelle Jean-Louise said a case of arson had been opened at Tongaat SAPS police station. 

Also read: Armed men on the loose after foiled N2 robbery at Blythedale

“All information related to the various incidents of unplanned fires that were reported at some of our estates in the Tongaat region from September 2017, was provided to the South African Police Service. SAPS have conducted further investigations and this matter is now before the relevant court.”

A handful of Umdloti residents with knowledge of Del Vecchio’s activities had kept their suspicions a secret to not create panic in the area.

This was until Del Vecchio apparently painted the ISIS logo on a Tongaat Hulett construction site.

“The incident scared a number of residents and was reported to Hawks.

“However they only took notice of him when he later painted the ISIS logo on the King Shaka International Airport boundary.”

Del Vecchio’s family are believed to be from Mozambique. The 38-year-old man apparently grew up in Durban North. 

The couple is facing charges of kidnapping alternatively robbery, arson and possible contravention of Protection Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorists and Other Related Activities (POCDATARA).

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