The UK government refused to grant the grandson of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela, an entrance visa on October 25, 2024, due to his sympathy for Hamas and his position on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Despite having a South African government passport, which normally grants him visa-free entrance, Mandla Mandela was told he would require a visa, which prevented him from traveling to the UK earlier this month to speak at pro-Palestinian rallies in Manchester, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
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Nonetheless, Mandela received a letter from the UK Home Office notifying him that his presence in the country was “not conducive to the public good” and that his “support for Hamas” was why his visa application was rejected.
On October 24, 2024, Mandela told reporters that he got the letter dated October 21.
The letter read, “Your presence in the UK has been assessed as not conducive for the public good on the grounds that you have engaged in unacceptable behavior. You have made multiple statements which explicitly support Hamas and their terrorist violence, including glorifying the October 7 attack on Israel and their recently deceased leader Ismail Haniyeh.”
Several of Mandela’s Instagram postings expressing his sympathy for Hamas and the Palestinians are included in the letter, including one that features him with Haniyeh, who was killed in an airstrike in July of this year.
It further states that Mandela uploaded a picture of himself with Khaled Meshaal, a prominent Hamas commander and that he attended Haniyeh’s funeral in August after seeing him twice this year in January and April.
The letter noted, “As such, your presence in the UK is considered to pose a threat to UK society as it would highly likely cause tensions amongst UK Jewish communities. It is in the community’s interests to refuse your visa to protect public safety and prevent disorder or crime in the UK.”
When asked for comments, the Home Office did not immediately reply.
Mandela stated that he would continue to show his solidarity for the Palestinians despite the visa rejection.
He remarked, “We can never be silenced, and we will never let the refusal of a visa prevent us from standing for justice, peace, and equality. We will continue to raise our voice against the unjust occupation, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of Gaza and all of Occupied Palestine sponsored by the UK and its ilk.”
He compared the difficulties his grandfather Nelson Mandela faced—who was imprisoned for 27 years for his involvement in the fight against apartheid—to the denial of his visa, which he claimed was an attempt to limit his freedom of expression and mobility. Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected leader in 1994 after the white minority government’s apartheid regime was overthrown.
“My grandfather’s movement and freedom were likewise restricted but he refused the condition of release from prison that restricted him to the Transkei. He remained firm in his pursuit of justice and continued to be a symbol of freedom, justice, and human rights for all,” he expressed.
The UK’s move has drawn criticism from pro-Palestinian groups, such as the Sheffield Palestine Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid in the UK and the Desmond Tutu Foundation in South Africa.
