CLEARED FOR 90 DAYS

SOUTH Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, says there is no evidence that any of the 153 Palestinian travellers who arrived in Johannesburg on Thursday intend to apply for asylum in the country.

He said a chartered flight arrived in Johannesburg on Thursday from Nairobi, Kenya.

Schreiber explained: “Upon arrival, the 153 travellers on board were facilitated through the relevant immigration processes by officials from the Border Management Authority (BMA).” 

Officials flagged several discrepancies during routine checks, including missing departure stamps and a lack of return tickets or local accommodation details.

Schreiber emphasised that entry requirements still applied despite South Africa’s visa exemption for holders of ordinary Palestinian passports, which allows them to visit the country for 90 days.

“All of the travellers have valid passports and, at present, none of them have applied for asylum.” Schreiber added.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) says it has no knowledge of any Palestinian refugees entering South Africa.

As authorities engaged the Palestinian embassy to clarify the situation, the travellers were temporarily placed in air-conditioned buses while verifications were conducted. The embassy confirmed that the missing information in their documents did not signal an intention to remain in South Africa permanently.

Schreiber said the travel group was later cleared on humanitarian grounds.

“Once satisfied that the absence of certain elements from their itinerary would not leave them destitute in South Africa in the absence of any asylum claims, the travellers were granted entry into South Africa on the standard 90-day visa exemption, subject to compliance with the standard conditions,” added Schreiber. 

By the time entry was approved, 23 members of the group had already departed for other destinations.

According to the Palestinian embassy: “The travel of these 153 Palestinians was arranged by an unregistered and misleading organisation that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza.” 

South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa, meanwhile, confirmed that the government will investigate how the group was transported to South Africa.. 

Ramaphosa explained: “These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here.

“Even though they do not have the necessary documents and papers, these are people from a strife-torn, a war-torn country, and out of compassion, out of empathy, we must receive them.”

He was quoted by Reuters as adding: “We are going to do a proper evaluation and see what the future portends.”