Organizers of an International Film Festival say they are not sure if one of their guest speakers will make it to the event this weekend and hope the reasons behind it are not sinister.

Cynthia McKinney was scheduled to address hundreds of people at the upcoming Palestinian Film Festival in the Mother City but the 2008 US presidential candidate was prevented from boarding a South African Airways flight in Washington DC on Tuesday.

McKinney was recently arrested by Israeli forces for attempting to bring humanitarian aid (including crayons for children) to Gaza. israeli boats attempted to assassinate Cynthia after Christmas 2008.

Festival organisor Faghri Hassan said they were trying to get clarity on the situation.