South Africa has condemned what it describes as a “clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians” from Gaza and the West Bank, following the mysterious arrival of 153 Palestinian refugees on an unscheduled chartered flight last week.
The group landed at Johannesburg’s airport on Thursday aboard a plane with no official departure stamps from Israel in their passports, raising immediate red flags with South African authorities.
“We are suspicious, as the South African government, about the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the plane,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told reporters on Monday.
Border police detained the group on the aircraft for 12 hours before President Cyril Ramaphosa personally authorised their entry under South Africa’s standard 90-day visa exemption program.
The situation became more complex when it emerged that this was not an isolated incident. According to local humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers, a first flight carrying 176 Palestinians had arrived on 28 October.
“We do not want any further flights to come our way because this is a clear agenda to cleanse out Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank and those areas, which South Africa is against,” Lamola stated firmly.
The Foreign Minister suggested the flights were part of a broader, coordinated effort to relocate Palestinians globally.
“It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine into many different parts of the world, and is a clearly orchestrated operation,” Lamola said, though he declined to provide additional details about the suspected operation.
Passengers allegedly deceived
Investigations have revealed that passengers paid approximately $2,000 each to a shadowy organization called Al-Majd for what they believed would be safe passage to various destinations.
Sarah Oosthuizen, a representative from Gift of the Givers NGO, told AFP that many passengers were misled about their final destination. “Some appeared to believe they were headed to Indonesia, Malaysia, or India,” she explained.
“What we’ve been told is that they were promised some type of travel out of Gaza to some form of safety in a country that would welcome them,” Oosthuizen added.
Passengers from the first group, which included men, women, and children, “definitely did not know that they were coming to South Africa,” according to the humanitarian worker.
Travel route and abandonment
The refugees’ journey began at Israel’s Ramon airport, with a stopover in Nairobi before the final chartered flight to Johannesburg. However, upon arrival, their promised accommodation was booked for only one week, and their contact with Al-Majd ceased entirely.
Pro-Palestinian activist Khalid Vawda from the Social Intifada civil society group provided additional details about the recruitment process.
“Al-Majd had advertised ‘evacuation and relocation’ to people in Gaza on social media. They were told to pay money into an account and to expect a day’s notice before departure,” Vawda explained.
He described how passengers were processed through the Kerem Shalom crossing, where “they had to leave behind whatever belongings they had. They were only allowed to take their mobile phones, the clothing they were wearing, and whatever cash they had on them.”
Official responses
The Palestinian embassy in South Africa condemned the operation, stating Thursday that the travel arrangements “were made by an unregistered and misleading organisation that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza.”
The embassy accused the group of deceiving families, collecting money from them, and facilitating travel “in an irregular and irresponsible manner.”
Attempts to contact Al-Majd proved futile, with none of their listed phone numbers in service. Their registered address leads only to the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Israeli authorities confirmed to AFP that the 153 Palestinians had received “approval from a third country to receive them,” without identifying South Africa specifically.
South Africa’s strong reaction comes as the country prepares to host world leaders at this weekend’s G20 summit. The nation has positioned itself as one of the most vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause internationally, having filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in 2023.
Lamola confirmed that Pretoria has launched an official investigation into the circumstances surrounding both flights.
Many of the arriving refugees have indicated they wish to apply for asylum in South Africa, according to Gift of the Givers representatives.
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