Cyril Ramaphosa: South Africa will investigate Palestinian plane boarding ‘mystery’

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said there would be an investigation into the “mysterious” incident in which a chartered plane carrying 153 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip arrived in South Africa.

The group arrived at OR Tambo International Airport but were initially denied entry and were held on the plane for more than 10 hours because “their passports did not have customary departure stamps,” local authorities said.

Most were eventually allowed into the country thanks to the intervention of local charities and the government’s “empathy (and) compassion,” Ramaphosa said.

It is still unclear how they left the Gaza Strip and headed to South Africa.

South Africa has strongly supported Palestine throughout the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

Ramaphosa reported on the News24 site that the group “for some reason boarded a plane passing through Nairobi and flew to South Africa.”

Cogat, the Israeli military that controls traffic through the Gaza Strip, said in a statement: “The residents left the Gaza Strip after Cogat received approval from a third country to host them.”

According to the Palestinian Embassy in South Africa, the group left Israel’s Ramon Airport without prior notice or coordination and flew to Israel via the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

“An unregistered and misleading organization has taken advantage of the tragic humanitarian situation of the people of Gaza, defrauded their families, collected money from them and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner,” the embassy said in a statement.

South African authorities said 23 of the 153 people successfully flew to other destinations and 130 were permitted to enter the country.

Ramaphosa, speaking at an event in Johannesburg, said he had been informed of the current crisis by the Home Affairs Minister.

“We can’t take them back,” the president said, according to News24.

“Even without the necessary papers and documents, these are people from conflict-torn countries, war-torn countries.”

The president also told reporters that the South African government would conduct a “proper assessment” of the matter and update the public on “what is happening and how this problem arose,” according to public broadcaster SABC.

Interior Minister Leon Schreiber said Palestinian passport holders are entitled to a 90-day visa exemption to South Africa, but some travelers were initially denied entry into the country because their documents lacked a departure stamp, return ticket or accommodation address.

Once it was confirmed that the absence of this information “does not mean that the travelers wish to apply for asylum” and accommodation was confirmed, they were granted entry.

“All travelers have valid passports and no one has currently applied for asylum,” he said.

South African charity Gift of the Givers said it would provide in-country accommodation for the group.

Civil society in South Africa has called for an investigation into the circumstances of the Palestinians’ flight from Gaza and the exact route of the aircraft.

One of the Palestinians who spoke to local eNCA TV expressed relief, describing South Africa as a country of “peace, law and justice.”

“We come from Gaza, where we face death every day. We survived two years of war and we are lucky to be here,” said one man who fled with his wife and two children.

Gift of the Givers later called on Ramaphosa to investigate the Home Office and border authorities for “the humiliation they have caused” to Palestinians.

Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, the group’s founder, said this treatment included being made to wait on airport tarmacs for hours, being denied food offered by the group and “using every excuse in the book to prevent these passengers from disembarking”.

South Africa has been highly critical of Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s sympathy for the Palestinian struggle for an independent state goes back decades. This is especially true since the early 1990s, when anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela pledged support for the Palestinian cause.

Since the conflict began, large pro-Palestinian marches have been held across South Africa.

Small pro-Israel marches and rallies were held in the country, home to the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2023, the South African government filed a complaint against Israel to the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide in the Gaza Strip. Israel strongly rejected South Africa’s claims, calling them “baseless.”