The desperate Palestinians from war-torn Gaza who arrived at OR Tambo International Airport this week paid as much as $2,000 (about R34,000) each for one-way tickets to an undisclosed destination.
Sarah Oosthuizen, a volunteer at Gift of the Givers who helped some of the more than 150 Palestinian refugees, told the Sunday Times that many of passengers only learnt in mid-air that they were headed to Johannesburg.
She said the chartered plane that left from Ramon in Israel was the second flight carrying Palestinians to arrive in South Africa following one on October 28.
Oosthuizen said everyone on the plane was from Gaza and had been displaced several times since Israel launched its offensive on the territory in October 2023, following the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in the Jewish state.
Some of those who arrived on Friday were relatives of people who came on the first flight, she said.
“They have been displaced multiple times, but they are all from Gaza,” Oosthuizen said.
She said many of them were “highly traumatised” and in a state of shock.
“The tickets they bought to exit Gaza were very expensive, about $2,000 per person,” she said.
“Our suspicions are that these are people who possibly had some form of access to funds. I don’t think we can make any assumptions, as people fundraise in many ways, but many of the people we have helped from the first flight are highly qualified,” she said”.
“Their final destination was unknown throughout.”
The Palestinians had bought air tickets through a company that seemingly promised “resettlement” to residents of Gaza who wanted to flee the death and destruction.
Oosthuizen said the tickets were bought from a company called Al-Majd, “which is some form of company that says it will arrange tickets, paperwork and accommodation”.
“They are promising resettlement. Passengers on both planes had conflicting paperwork from Al-Majd. Some were told they had accommodation in India, some in Indonesia, some in Malaysia,” she said.
“At no point were they ever given a final arrangement that they could prepare for. So once they got on this flight, they flew out of Israel’s airport and both groups were routed to Kenya,” she said.
At no point were they ever given a final arrangement that they could prepare for. So once they got on this flight, they flew out of Israel’s airport and both groups were routed to Kenya
— Sarah Oosthuizen
All the Palestinians who arrived on the first flight were processed through immigration and allowed into the country, but those on the flight this week were not allowed to disembark as they did not have addresses, return tickets or exit stamps from Israel.
Oosthuizen said the passengers were “exhausted, starving and distressed”.
“We were told the flight was grounded and nobody was allowed off because their paperwork was not in order.”
As the hours passed, conditions deteriorated. Humanitarian workers were eventually allowed on board after reports of medical emergencies.
“There was a woman nine months pregnant going into early labour, a young child convulsing, horrific conditions on board. It ended up being 13 hours stuck on an aeroplane, no airconditioning. The food and water we bought was delayed. They were exhausted and starving.”
It took the intervention of President Cyril Ramaphosa to clear the way for the Palestinians to leave the airport.
Oosthuizen said South African police and officials from the department of international relations & co-operation had been helpful.
But she said the South African authorities were wrong to say the passengers did not want asylum.
“We can state on record with video and written evidence: they do want asylum, the majority of them. The balance wanted to transit to their next destinations if they had the correct visas.”
Volunteers are assisting passengers with accommodation, medical care, psychological support, schooling and legal aid.
“It is not just Gift of the Givers. Doctors are working pro bono; lawyers are working pro bono. It is truly ordinary South Africans who are actually helping,” Oosthuizen said.
A spokesperson for the department of home affairs, Thulani Mavuso, said yesterday the Palestinians who arrived on the first flight had not asked for asylum.
“They are here on a 90-day visa. The majority of them had accommodation, they were normal visitors.” Many from this group had already left the country, and the rest would leave before their visas expired.
Referring to the second flight, Mavuso said the passengers had no departure stamps, return tickets or details of accommodation.
“But it’s not a question of them coming here to apply for asylum. There was just confusion around the particular way in which they arrived, but they will be exiting back,” he said.
More than 67,000 people were killed in the two years of fighting in Gaza. A ceasefire took effect about five weeks ago.
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