Overview
- A chartered flight carrying 153 Palestinians landed at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo on November 13 and passengers were kept on the aircraft for about 12 hours over missing exit stamps and lack of stay details.
- Following a verified commitment from Gift of the Givers to host them, authorities allowed disembarkation; 23 travellers took onward flights and 130 were processed under South Africa’s standard 90-day visa-free rules.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa said the group was accepted on humanitarian grounds and instructed inquiries into how the flight was arranged and why South African authorities had no prior coordination.
- The Palestinian embassy alleges an unregistered organisation deceived families and arranged irregular travel, a claim Home Affairs and the security cluster say they are investigating.
- Assertions that Israel deliberately withheld passport stamps were made by some NGOs and disputed by the South African Zionist Federation, while reports of routes via Gaza crossings to Ramon Airport and a possible facilitator called Al-Majd remain unverified.