South African ruling party calls for tighter security measures in wake of Kenya mall attack

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's ruling party is calling for tighter immigration laws and other security measures in South Africa following the attack at the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya.

Gwede Mantashe, secretary general of South Africa's African National Congress, says the Kenya attack highlighted the need for stronger controls in South Africa over identity documents and monitoring of the movement of people.

Mantashe's announcement Sunday comes after reports that Briton Samantha Lewthwaite, wanted by Interpol in connection with a 2011 plot to bomb holiday resorts in Kenya, fraudulently obtained a South African passport. South African authorities say the last recorded use of the passport was in 2011.

At least 67 people died in the Sept. 21 attack in Kenya. Al-Shabab, a Somalia-based militant group, claimed responsibility.