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The  latest US State Department Human Rights Report on South Africa gave the country a near clean bill of health which is in stark contrast to the reality of what is going on there. Perhaps the Obama’s want to see “Madiba” one last time before he dies and the country no longer holds any interest for them or perhaps the President enjoys being around a Government that rearranges reailty in much the same way as he does. In truth South Africa is a dangerous place both for local minorities and for Americans.

"There are groups in Africa that claim to be part of al-Qaida and other structures, and here in southern Africa they have been discovered seeking refuge and quite possibly attempting to set up networks," South Africa's Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils said this week.

HOUSTON (AP) - A South African woman pleaded not guilty Friday to immigration charges in a case that raised concerns about whether terrorists could enter the country by way of Mexico. Farida Goolam Mahamed Ahmed, 48, was arrested July 19 after being stopped by the Border Patrol at McAllen-Miller International Airport in south Texas as she tried to board a plane bound for New York. She carried a pair of muddy, wet pants in her baggage, $7,300 in various currencies and a passport with three double-sided pages missing. Border Patrol agents determined Ahmed did not have a valid visa for...

WASHINGTON -- Fearing al-Qaida may try to sneak operatives into the U.S. using South African passports, the Department of Homeland Security has put inspectors at major airports and seaports across the nation on high alert for suspicious travelers from that nation, which U.S. officials say has become a breeding ground for terrorists. The order to "increase scrutiny" of South African travelers, contained in a closely held bulletin obtained by WorldNetDaily, comes on the heels of the arrest of four South Africans with alleged links to terrorism. In just the past three weeks, two South Africans tied to al-Qaida were captured...

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A South African citizen has been arrested in Mexico for alleged involvement in al-Qaeda-linked terrorist activities, South African media reported on Thursday, prompting further speculation about al-Qaeda presence in the country. The man, so far unidentified, was carrying a South African passport and a mobile phone that had been used to make calls to South Africa when he was nabbed in Mexico near the US border on Tuesday, said local newspaper Thisday. However, the South African government has yet confirmed if the man is genuine South African citizen or foreign national holding South African travel...

The QE2 liner was among the targets selected by two South Africans -- captured in Pakistan along with a senior al-Qaida terrorist -- who were plotting attacks on tourist sites in their home country. Raja Munawar Hussain, the chief of police in Gujrat, the eastern Pakistani city where they were arrested, said several maps of South African cities among the items seized after the raid, which also netted Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian with a A£13.7 million bounty on his head for the 1998 twin East Africa embassy bombings. "They were all very well trained terrorists because of the way...

Johannesburg - The government was urged on Tuesday to help two South Africans being detained in Pakistan on suspicion of being recruits of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. A Pakistani official said Abu Bakar and Zubair Ismail had told interrogators they had planned to attack tourist sites in Johannesburg. Last week, the foreign affairs ministry named the two men as Feroze Ganchi, a medical doctor from Fordsburg, Johannesburg, and 20-year-old student Zubair Ismail, from Laudium, Pretoria. The Media Review Network, an advocacy group which aims to dispel myths and stereotypes about Islam, urged the government and human rights organisations to...

Al-Qaeda using SA passports July 28, 2004 Harlingen, Texas - Federal authorities are investigating a South African woman whom they say tried to board a flight near the US-Mexico border with an altered passport, amid reports that South African passports have ended up in the hands of terrorists. Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed (48) was arrested July 19 at the McAllen airport and charged four days later with illegal entry into the United States, falsifying information and falsifying a passport. She was denied bail yesterday by a federal magistrate. A senior federal law enforcement official said yesterday that investigators were trying...