By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Caption: Mandla Mandela, South African activist and grandson of the late Nelson Mandela, greets supporters after arriving at OR Tambo International Airport, 8 October 2025, in Kempton Park. Picture: Michel Bega.
South African activists, including Mandla Mandela, grandson of late former President Nelson Mandela, who were detained by Israel while attempting to reach Gaza as part of an aid flotilla said they were singled out after Israeli guards noticed their nationality.
Mandela, Fatima Hendricks, Zaheera Soomar, Zukiswa Wanner, Reaaz Moola, and Carrie Shelver, returned to South Africa on Wednesday after spending six days in an Israeli prison after the Global Sumud Flotilla was intercepted.
The activists were greeted by hundreds of supporters at the OR International Airport, waving Palestinian flags and holding placards reading “Children need love, not bombs.”
The flotilla carried nearly 500 people from more than 40 countries who set sail to deliver food and medical supplies to Gaza, which has been under a heightened siege by the Israeli government for the last two years.
“Ours was a humanitarian mission to break the blockade and end the siege and get aid to Gaza,” Mandela said, noting that there was no violence accompanying their actions.
Mandela said that the Israeli government intercepted dozens of their boats in international waters, calling it a violation of international law and human rights
During six days of detention, Mandela said they were subjected to dehumanizing conditions, including being denied food and the opportunity to shower.
Following their arrest, he said they were handcuffed with wires tied tightly behind their backs and “paraded.” “We were taken to detention and denied food, but it’s nothing compared to what Palestinians have been subjected to,” Mandela noted.
Hendricks and Soomar said they were forced to remove their hijabs, were pushed against walls, and had to strip in front of Israeli forces.
Wanner said the South African government needs to “stop paying lip service to solidarity for Palestine”.
“We didn’t like the bantustans in our country, why are we okay with Palestinians having bantustans?” she said, referring to the homelands set aside for blacks during apartheid in South Africa.
South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause dating back to when Nelson Mandela was president. The country has compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the South African apartheid government’s treatment of Black South Africans during its previous period of racial segregation. Israel has rejected that comparison.
South Africa lodged its case with International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza in late 2023. Several countries, including Nicaragua, Palestine, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia have supported South Africa’s case.