• Editor’s note: This article is updated each time new information becomes available.

JOHANNESBURG – The Basic Education Department website was hacked on Wednesday, and gruesome images were posted along with a message to “the government, the American people and the rest of the world”, the department said.

“The people who breached the website have since posted gory pictures of decapitated corpses, some of whom are children,” the department said.

According to the department, the message on the website was: “Hacked by Team System DZ. A message to the government, the American people and the rest of the world. Is this the humanity that you claim, or is life irrelevant to Muslims? Do not imagine that these actions against Muslims will pass you and we will forget what you did to the Arab and Muslim peoples all over the world. I love Islamic State”.

The department distanced itself from the images and have taken down their website.

Our website has been hacked pic.twitter.com/ROK4cQChLd

— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) June 28, 2017

School applications are handled by provincial departments, not by DBE. No sensitive data is loaded on website, only info meant for public.

— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) June 28, 2017

No sensitive data is published on website, only info meant for public consumption.

— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) June 28, 2017

“We distance ourselves from the brutal images that incite hatred and violence. We have taken immediate steps to have the images removed from our website and to investigate how the website has been hacked.

“In this regard we have contacted State Information and Technology Agency (SITA) that is responsible for a security system to deal with the hacking as a matter of urgency,” the department said.

“We are currently working together with SITA to deal with the hack and reclaim the website. We also condemn such acts in the strongest terms.

“In the meantime, we appeal to members of the public to be patient with us as we have since taken down the website while working to restore it. An investigation is underway to establish the source of the hack.”

The website remained shut down on Thursday.

DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said investigators were making progress to fixing the site and they are hopeful that it would be up and running soon.

Members of the public who need information usually kept on the site should contact the department directly on their customer service line, 012 357 3000 or via email on info@dbe.gov.za.

African News Agency