When in 2013 he first published a report on the active presence of Al-Qaeda in South Africa, all hell broke loose for investigative reporter De Wet Potgieter. He was forced to retract before two more substantiating articles could be published.

Then the massacre at Westgate Mall hit Nairobi, which made the involvement of the so-called White Widow – operating on an illegally acquired South African passport – front-page news. Suddenly the world’s media was beating a path to Potgieter’s door.

Now, for the first time, he tells the full unsettling story of Al-Qaeda’s presence in this country. Not only is the veil lifted from this mysterious British woman, but the identity of another is disclosed: an Afrikaans-speaking counter-terrorist operative known as the Black Widow.

The book shows how, taking advantage of corrupt state machinery, Al-Qaeda factions launch attacks in other African countries. It discloses details of paramilitary and urban warfare training on a secluded farm and reveals disturbing details of the support they receive from various local extremist groups. Based on investigations spanning two years, Black Widow White Widow paints a frightening picture of the all too real possibility of future attacks from, or on, South African soil.

Black Widow White Widow: Is Al-Qaeda operating in South Africa? is published by Penguin Books South Africa