By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Fikile Mbalula called on government to do better on communicating important developments such as the unexpected arrival of a group of Palestinians in the country.
Mbalula was speaking at the party’s ordinary National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the Germiston Council Chambers.
The meeting is held under the continuing “Year of Renewal to build a more effective, people-centred movement.”
Mbalula said, the meeting will reflect on South Africa’s engagements at the G20, progress on the National Dialogue process, key matters before the ANC Integrity Commission, and the state of readiness for the upcoming National General Council (NGC).
A group of 153 Palestinians arrived at OR Tambo international airport in Johannesburg on a chartered Global Airways flight from Kenya on Thursday without departure stamps, return tickets or details of accommodation, according to the Border Management Authority (BMA).
Holders of ordinary Palestinian passports have 90 days of visa-exempt access to South Africa, subject to security and verification procedures.
But because of the discrepancies in this case, the BMA could not allow the Palestinian passengers entry right away, as further verifications had to be undertaken.
Mbalula said, “should they be against any laws that inform the acceptance of the Palestinians in this country and all of that, we will rise as the ANC, because we expect that the Palestinians must be granted political asylum as a matter of need.”
Details about how the group left Gaza remain elusive but the Gift of the Givers Foundation, said it was the second plane carrying Palestinians to land in South Africa in the last two weeks.
“The Palestinians had no idea where they were bundled off to, only when in Kenya did they realise they were coming to South Africa. Some had visas for Canada, Australia and Malaysia, they were eventually permitted to leave for those countries,” said Imtiaz Sooliman, the chair and founder of Gift of the Givers.
The Palestinian embassy in South Africa said the travel of both groups “was arranged by an unregistered and misleading organisation that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected money from them, and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner”.
South Africa filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice in 2023, accusing it of genocide in the Palestinian territory.
Meanwhile the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has reserved judgment in the legal battle between the uMkhonto Wesizwe Party and the ANC over the rights to the MK name and logo.
The MK name and logo holds huge political symbolism because of the now-defunct armed wing’s role in fighting for the end of white-minority rule in South Africa.
The KwaZulu-Natal High Court previously dismissed the ANC’s application with costs to stop the MK Party from using the logo and trademark resembling a spear and shield.
The same court later granted the ANC leave to appeal, with Judge Mahendra Chetty finding that there were reasonable prospects of success.
The ANC first submitted an appeal to the IEC regarding the use of the name and logo of their disbanded military wing last year, but was unsuccessful.