Nelson Mandela’s grandson denied UK visa

Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla, has been refused a visa to visit United Kingdom (UK) by the British government for his alleged support of and for “glorying” Hamas.

In a letter accompanying the refusal to grant the visa to Mandela, the Home Office said: “Your presence in the UK has been assessed as not conducive to the public good on the grounds that you have engaged in unacceptable behaviour.

“You have made multiple statements which explicitly support Hamas and their terrorist violence, including glorifying the 7 October attack on Israel and their recently deceased leader Ismail Haniyeh,” the letter said.

Mandela: ‘I will not back down’

Haniyeh was the Hamas political leader assassinated by Israeli forces in Beirut in July.

However, the former MP and chief of Royal House Mandela at Mvezo Komkhulu in the Eastern Cape was adamant that the decision would not deter him from supporting the freedom of the Palestinian people.

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Mandela believed this was in keeping with the legacy of his grandfather, who was a vehement supporter of the Palestinian cause and a personal friend of the late Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader, Yasser Arafat.

Mandela applied for the visa on 8 October and the British Home Office replied in a letter dated 21 October refusing to grant it.

Yesterday, Mandela blamed the Zionist lobby for drumming up support to ensure he was refused the visa because he has been to the UK countless times without any restrictions being imposed on him.

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“The purpose of our visit to the UK was to engage in a speaking tour under the theme Dismantling Apartheid: South Africa to Palestine. The visit was scheduled for the entire UK including Ireland.

“This was clearly contrived and the UK authorities succumbed to the pressure from the Zionist lobby. We proceeded to speak virtually and even addressed crowds where venues had locked their doors,” Mandela said.

Hamas ‘terrorism’

Giving further reasons, the Home Office said Hamas’ military wing was proscribed in the UK under Terrorism Act in 2000 and in November 2021 the proscription was extended to Hamas itself as a political wing.

“Any future UK visa applications you make will be considered on their individual merits. However, you are likely to be refused unless the circumstances of your application change. In relation to this decision, there is no right of appeal or right to administrative review,” it said.

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The British government reminded Mandela that following Hamas’ 7 October attacks, he had posted on Instagram: “We support the Palestinian right to resist and call on all resistance formations to likewise support operation A-Asqa Flood and intensify the struggle on all fronts.

“We have left the Palestinian people with no other option than to resist with all their might and with everything at their disposal. We unequivocally support operation Al-Asqa Flood.”

The Home Office listed a timeline between January and October citing at least 30 instances in which Mandela allegedly posted tweets, statements and was quoted in news reports expressing support for Hamas.

These included a one-year anniversary commemoration of the Hamas attacks, allegedly sending condolences for Haniyeh’s killing by Israel and attending Haniyeh’s funeral in Qatar in August.

After the funeral, he allegedly posted on Instagram: “We bid farewell to Sheikh Ismail Haniyeh as he is laid to rest today. He was a great leader and an inspiration to all revolutionaries and freedom fighters of the world.”

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The office also cited one instance where Mandela allegedly expressed support for Hezbollah on Instagram.

“It is assessed that your proposed visit to the UK would highly likely cause tensions within UK Jewish communities due to your explicit statements highlighted above, particularly in relation to support for Hamas and glorifying the 7 October attack,” the Home Office letter reads.

‘We will not be silenced’

The Home Office said in assessing the matter it considered “whether you have since publicly retracted these views and not re-engaged in such behaviour. I have seen no evidence that you have attempted to retract or clarify any of the statements evidenced above,” it said.

Mandela said the visa refusal letter was symptomatic of “UK’s complicity with apartheid Israel and its ongoing support for the genocide in Gaza and all of occupied Palestine”.

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“This refusal letter is an extension of the colonial mentality that seeks to deny us our right of free movement, association and speech. We will not be silenced.

“The denial of a visa is an infringement of my movement and an attempt to undermine the work of the anti-apartheid movement in the UK.”

– ericn@citizen.co.za