South Africa has opened a formal inquiry after a chartered flight carrying 153 Palestinians from Gaza landed in Johannesburg under unclear circumstances, sparking hours of confusion at OR Tambo International Airport. The passengers, who arrived without the usual exit stamps in their passports, remained inside the aircraft for more than 10 hours before most were eventually allowed to enter the country.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was briefed on the situation soon after it unfolded and explained that the group had initially been denied entry because of gaps in their documents. He added that they were later cleared after government officials considered their situation and acted out of “empathy [and] compassion”.
The exact process through which the group left Gaza and boarded the plane remains unknown.
South Africa has held firm support for Palestinians throughout the war between Hamas and Israel, and Ramaphosa said the journey taken by the passengers still raises questions. According to News24, he said the group “somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi” before landing in South Africa.
Israel’s military body Cogat released a statement saying the travellers exited Gaza “after Cogat received approval from a third country to receive them”, though it did not reveal which country was involved. The Palestinian embassy in South Africa later stated that the group departed from Israel’s Ramon Airport and travelled through Nairobi “without any prior note or coordination”.
The embassy said the entire episode was triggered by “an unregistered and misleading organization [that had] exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected money from them, and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner”.
Of the 153 passengers, authorities say 23 flew onward to other destinations. The remaining 130 stayed and were granted entry after checks were completed. Ramaphosa told a gathering in Johannesburg that he was notified of the issue by the home affairs minister, adding, “we cannot turn them back” because they were fleeing “a strife-torn, a war-torn country”.
He told reporters that the government would carry out a “proper evaluation” and later share details on “what is happening and how this matter came to be where it is”, according to public broadcaster SABC.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said Palestinian passport holders normally qualify for 90-day, visa-free entry. However, in this case, missing departure stamps, lack of return tickets and incomplete accommodation details led to their initial refusal at the border. Once officials confirmed that none of the travellers were attempting to seek asylum and that their accommodation had been arranged, they were allowed to proceed. “All of the travellers are in possession of valid passports and, at present, none of them have applied for asylum,” he said.
Local charity Gift of the Givers stepped in to organise places for the group to stay. Civil society groups have also asked for a broader review into the conditions the Palestinians fled and the actual route taken by the plane before arriving in South Africa.
One passenger who spoke to eNCA described his relief at arriving safely, calling South Africa a place of “peace, laws and justice”. He said, “We came from Gaza where we’ve faced death on daily basis. We have survived a war of two years and we are lucky to be here,” explaining he was travelling with his wife and two children.
Gift of the Givers has since requested that the president look into the conduct of the home affairs ministry and border officials over what it described as the “humiliation they’ve caused” the Palestinians. Founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said the group had been left for hours inside the aircraft, blocked from taking food provided by the charity, and met with officials who were “using every excuse in the book to prevent these passengers from disembarking”.
South Africa’s strong backing of the Palestinian cause dates back to the early 1990s when Nelson Mandela publicly supported efforts toward a Palestinian state. The country has been vocal throughout the current conflict, with large pro-Palestinian marches taking place across major cities. Smaller pro-Israel demonstrations have also been held, reflecting the presence of the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2023, South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, a claim Israel has rejected as “baseless”.
