News24 | ‘Block’ unexplained flights: SA mustn’t be easy target for Palestine depopulation - Mbalula

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has called on government to block any further unexplained flights.

• The ANC raised alarm over the unexplained arrival of more than 150 Palestinian refugees in Joburg, warning that SA must not become an “easy target” for depopulation efforts.
• Secretary-general Fikile Mbalula urged government to block any further unverified flights, framing the issue as a national security concern.
• He called on state security, Home Affairs and transport officials to clarify how the flight was approved, insisting that only government can account for the incident and address potential breaches.

The ANC says South Africa will not be an easy target for what it describes as the depopulation of Palestine by Israel, following the arrival of more than 150 Palestinian refugees aboard a chartered flight at OR Tambo International Airport last week.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has also called on the South African government to block any further unexplained flights in the interests of national security.

“Because there are all sorts of rumours that come with this – that these people come from Israel – we cannot be made an easy target for the depopulation of Palestine by Israel. Our government, in terms of national interest, must block them. We are told that these people were brought here by an NGO; it’s not explained.

“Now, if I were minister of police, I would be at the airport or wherever these people come from, and I would be telling you, blow by blow, what is happening and what we are going to do to prevent anything that may lead to undermining national security,” Mbalula said.

He added that the ANC had resolved to defer the matter to the government.

READ | The Israeli links behind Palestinian refugee flights

“It shouldn’t just be easy for people to just land in the country,” he said.

ANC deputy secretary-general and head of the International Relations Subcommittee, Nomvula Mokonyane, has since met with Dr Imtiaz Sooliman of the Gift of the Givers Foundation to discuss avenues for collaboration, according to the ANC’s social media.

The ANC is a known ally of Palestine and has backed the government’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Mbalula said: “We support Palestine, [but] the landing in our country is like any other country – you can see that it’s the work of security interests, the laws of the country in terms of immigration, and then what governs us in terms of the United Nations when we are faced with such situations.”

“As the ANC, we will not be in a position to answer [to] matters of national security; we have emphasised that the government must respond. It’s not a party-political matter,“ Mbalula said.

His remarks at a post-national executive committee (NEC) meeting press briefing on Tuesday came a day after International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola raised concerns about the landing of the plane.

Mbalula said he supported Lamola’s statement, emphasising that the issue fell squarely within the responsibilities of government, foreign affairs, and Lamola’s department. He added that state security should respond if there were any concerns, noting that asylum seekers must go through extensive processes and that intelligence services needed full details of the flight plan, the passengers’ point of departure, and their origins.

READ | ‘We don’t want any further flights’: Lamola on ‘suspicious’ Palestinian plane-landing saga

Mbalula said there were several issues that are yet to be addressed by the transport department, Home Affairs, and the defence department.

He added:

“If you have a group of people just landing at the airport and then they are from Palestine [and] they seek asylum – that clarity must come from Home Affairs, and then all our security will act, because they don’t act on their own. Then, the centre must hold and that’s what is important. And if the centre doesn’t hold, heads must roll.”

Mbalula said that if officials had failed in their duties, “then heads must roll”, questioning why any lapse in border security should be tolerated.

He added that the ANC believed Palestinians were especially deserving of political asylum wherever they went, including in South Africa, given the party’s long-standing support for their struggle for self-determination.

“So, all in all, what we are saying is that Palestinian matters and those who landed at OR Tambo must be dealt with by the government, and the government alone must respond to this.

“That’s how it must be handled, that’s how it must be dealt with, and should there be security breaches in terms of this, then we expect not too much talk,” Mbalula said.