South Africa lets in 130 Palestinians after initial denial over entry rules

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa granted entry to 130 Palestinians at Johannesburg airport on Wednesday, after initially barring them for not meeting immigration requirements, border authorities said.

South Africa has long supported Palestinian aspirations to statehood and filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in 2023 accusing it of genocide in the Gaza war. Israel has rejected the accusations.

The Border Management Authority said a group of 153 Palestinians who arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport on a chartered Global Airways flight from Kenya had not indicated how long or where they intended to stay.

They also lacked the required departure stamps in their passports to show where they had boarded the plane, BMA said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs cleared them to enter after humanitarian group Gift of the Givers offered accommodation. By then, 23 had already departed for other destinations, BMA Commissioner Michael Masiapato said on Thursday evening.

"We obviously need to look at the origins (of the 130 Palestinians' journey), where it started, the reason why they've been brought here. Ordinarily, we would have said they should go back because they didn't have any documentation," President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

"But ... out of compassion, and because they are a people that we as South Africa have raised our hands to support, we felt that we should accept them," he told reporters in Soweto, where he was overseeing a clean-up for next week's G20 summit.

Ramaphosa added that South African intelligence agencies, the Home Affairs and the Department of International Relations had assessed the group.

"We are going to do a proper evaluation and see what the future portends. We will make an announcement so that the people of South Africa know precisely what is happening."

Palestinians are generally eligible for 90-day visa-free entry to South Africa, subject to compliance with entry conditions, according to the BMA. REUTERS