Former South African politician Sexwale arrested in New York: SABC
Monday, October 28th 2013
14 hours
ago
Businessman Tokyo Sexwale addresses journalists in Cape Town
October 25, 2007. REUTERS/Mike Hutching …
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Prominent South
African businessman and anti-apartheid stalwart Tokyo Sexwale was arrested in
New York after his name was on a list of people banned from entering the United
States, national broadcaster SABC said on Sunday, citing his lawyer.
Sexwale, a rival of President Jacob Zuma who was ousted as housing minister
in a cabinet reshuffle in July, was arrested at John F Kennedy International
Airport while on a business trip, SABC said, citing Lesley Mkhabela
Some anti-apartheid activists were banned from visiting the United States
during apartheid, which ended in 1994. The ban has been lifted but not all the
names have been removed from the list, Mkhabela told the SABC.
"He has instructed us to take the matter up with the authorities of the U.S.
so we will address the letter to the U.S. Embassy in South Africa," Mkhabela was
quoted as saying on the broadcaster's website.
No one was immediately available for comment at Mkhabela's law firm. The Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, did not
immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Alongside former President Nelson Mandela, Sexwale spent years in South
Africa's Robben Island prison for his opposition to white-minority rule.
A charismatic politician, Sexwale later became a leading member of the ruling
African National Congress and an influential businessman, founding the
investment firm Mvelaphanda Group.
(Reporting by David Dolan and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Alison Williams)
COMMENTS:
John
The new U.S. policy: If you are a foreign political
leader we'll tap your phone and arrest you when you visit the U.S. If you're a
mexican drug-dealer you can walk across the border unimpeded, take up residence
in a "sanctuary city" and when arrested the cops won't be allowed to even ask if
you are here legally.
Reply
john
The Israel Lobby, with is intimate connection to the
apartheid government in old South Africa, has always hated anti-apartheid
figures. I don't know how they feel about this man, but the Israel Lobby
especially hates Bishop Desmond Tutu, because he has said that "Justice for the
Palestinians is the greatest moral issue of our time." Perhaps Mkhabela has made
similar comments.
Reply
Cool
Maybe the US should look at updating their data more
often? He has business interests in their country but is banned from entering?
Reply
jan
Like every politician today he is screwing his own
people. Most of them still living in poverty while the politicians steals and
enriching themselfes. Please keep him in the USA.
Reply
Kei
It has been suggested that Boers brought to Africa a
measure of stability that benefited native Africans as well as the Boers. Note
that: 1) Civilizations and kingdoms thrived across Mother Africa's savannas,
forests and sand dunes for centuries before the Europeans invaded. The natives
of Africa did NOT request the Europeans' 'stability'. Keep it. 2) What do
avaZulu fail to learn from Caucasians on the disposition of invaders at the end
of their reign of invasion? Why does neo-colonialism/ neo-apartheid still
flourish in the African countries long after "independence" was attained?
Consider this: It may be said that the civilized Roman invaders brought
'stability' to the British Isles - which benefited primitive native druids as
well as the Romans. For centuries! Nevertheless, when the time came for the
native to reclaim the lands of the British Isles, the past good deeds of the
Romans and their civilization didn't matter: They were ejected, purged,
slaughtered - brutally. The lands were cleansed. A brutal lesson was learnt and
internalized on both sides - forever.
Reply
Objective Observer
So are we supposed to presume from this report that
the United states was all for apartheid in South Africa... is it possible the
USA would ever have considered banning and arresting Nelson Mandela too? I don't
think so; something is seriously wrong if the USA is arresting the champions of
anti-apartheid
Expand Replies (2) Reply
james v
maybe the US thought that it was better to ban them
since in their struggle they did get very violent, maybe the US just thought to
not let that happen on their soil... who knows why... or the gold and diamonds
could've been a very strong motivator to side with SA government those days....
Expand Replies (1) Reply
Daniel
He should have told them he was Mexican.
Expand Replies (3) Reply
Roger
Why was he banned? I have no idea.
Expand Replies (4) Reply
Kei
Is Syria's FSA a terrorist organization? Are the our
violent, murderous rebels in Syria actual terrorists? How about the
terror-spewing cutthroats we used to oust Gadaffi in Libya? How about the rebels
we used to violently instal Oattarra in power in Ivory Coast - and in the
process slaughtering thousands of terrified civilian natives then and now?
Reply
