November 17, 2025 | 09:30 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - South Africa is investigating a mysterious chartered flight that brought 153 Palestinian refugees to the country without the required documentation on Thursday, November 13, 2025. The investigation was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday, as reported by Anadolu from Middle East Monitor.
"These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi (Kenya’s capital) and came here," Ramaphosa told reporters. He added that the intelligence agencies and the Department of Home Affairs are investigating the issue.
On Thursday, South Africa granted a 90-day visa exemption to the 153 Palestinian refugees who arrived from Kenya seeking asylum in the country. Initially denied entry for failing to pass the required interview and not having the usual departure stamp in their passports, they were eventually accepted.
The Palestinian refugees waited for more than 10 hours at the OR Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg to be either granted permission or denied. This news has sparked anger among activists in the country known for its strong support for Palestinian rights.
"During the process, BMA (Border Management Authority) officials noticed the absence of departure stamps in some of their passports, as well as the fact that a number of travellers did not appear to have return tickets or addresses for their accommodation in South Africa," the Department of Home Affairs said in a written statement.
At the time of entry, permission was granted, and 23 refugees from the group had continued their flight to other destinations. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Embassy in South Africa also emphasized on social media that the 153 Palestinian people came from Gaza through the Ramon Airport via Nairobi without prior notification or coordination.
It is said that the flight was organized by a misleading and unregistered organization.
The Embassy noted that the organization took advantage of the tragic humanitarian conditions in Gaza. The organization deceived families, collected money from them, and facilitated travel irregularly and irresponsibly.
"This entity later attempted to disown any responsibility once complications arose," the Palestine Embassy said.
Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of the humanitarian group Gift of the Givers, told South African broadcaster SABC that Israel should be blamed for the uncoordinated entry of Palestinian refugees into the country. "This, unfortunately, sounds like something very sinister. This is not the first flight; it’s the second flight. This seems to be a coordinated effort from Israel to carry out a process of ethnic cleansing," he said.
He noted that people paid a heavy price to organizations in front of Israel. They were then moved to Shalom and Ramon military bases, where they were flown to various countries.
"Most of them on the first plane didn’t even know where they were going and then of course, there was no exit stamp and when they get to a foreign country, they are further embarrassed and further put into difficulty, like what happened in South Africa," said Sooliman.
Meanwhile, according to the BBC, the Israeli military body Cogat, which controls the Gaza crossings, said in a statement, "The residents left the Gaza Strip after Cogat received approval from a third country to receive them."
However, Cogat did not mention the third country.
Loay Abu Saif, one of the 153 Palestinian residents, said that Israel helped facilitate the transfer of his group and noted that he and his family left Gaza without knowing their final destination. He described the more than 24-hour journey, which involved changing planes, as full of suffering.
The flight was the second plane to transport Palestinian refugees fleeing the genocide in Gaza to South Africa. The first plane landed at OR Tambo International Airport at the end of last month, carrying 176 Palestinian residents.
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