US arrests former South African anti-apartheid activist

Published: October 29,2013

Nelson Mandela

Tokyo Sexwale served jail time with South African icon, Nelson Mandela

Tokyo Sexwale, a former anti-apartheid activist and South Africa’s cabinet minister, was arrested in New York because his name appeared on a list of unwelcome individuals, public broadcaster SABC reported on Monday.

He was, however, released after the South African embassy intervened, the SABC quoted the South African Ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, as saying.

Mr Sexwale was arrested late last week at the JFK Airport.

He has since returned home.

The U.S. had banned many individuals involved in the struggle against the white minority regime in South Africa from visiting the country.

In spite of the fall of apartheid some 20 years ago, many names have apparently not been removed from the blacklist.

Nelson Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate, who was elected president of South Africa in 1994, was taken off the terrorist list in 2008.

Messrs Mandela and Sexwale were political prisoners on Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town.

Mr Sexwale is one of South Africa’s wealthiest individuals.

(dpa/NAN)