Chaos broke out with Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, being unable to travel to the UK for a nine-city speaking tour because he did not get his visa on time. Mandla was supposed to hold a number of pro-Palestine rallies in cities including Sheffield, Manchester, and Glasgow. His tour is a big boost for pro-Palestinian activists in Britain and he is supposed to start the tour in Sheffield today Thursday.

Mandela has expressed his frustration over the inability to attend, by saying: “It seems there are those who don’t want me to be with you in Britain.” Moreover, he said, “The fight against Apartheid and colonization cannot be silenced.” As a matter of fact, Mandela is scheduled to visit Dublin, Ireland, though visa requirement there has been waived. He is an ex-member of the South Africa National Assembly, and Mandela is labeled as a supporter of Palestinian rights.

A group known as the Sheffield Palestine Coalition against Israeli Apartheid reported that Mandela had been “stopped from visiting the UK.” They stated that British officials first informed Mandela that he did not require a visa to enter the UK with his passport from the South African government. However, he was told that he would need a visa on Monday. Although the ANC high-ups did their best to sort out the situation, the British embassy could not issue a visa in time. But Ireland admitted him without a visa.

It is not clear if Mandela still holds a diplomatic passport, which would have been different. It takes about three weeks on average to process an application for a UK visitor visa. A Home Office spokesman explained that the UK scrutinizes visa applications in order to ensure they are given only to people who can be welcomed in the country.

A recent The Times report raised the possibility of revoking a UK visa for Mandela due to “inflammatory rhetoric.” According to the report, Andrew Fox, a researcher at the right-wing Henry Jackson Society think tank, said Mandela supports Hamas and Hezbollah and ties with Iran. According to Fox, this is the reason Mandela poses a threat as he praises these groups the UK terms terrorist organizations.

Mandela has publicly endorsed the Palestinian resistance, which includes Hamas. The organization has carried out attacks that started on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel. The attacks had reportedly killed over 1,100 people before Mandela made these remarks: “We support the Palestinian right to resist.” His statements were even more rhetorical, with a call for others to support Hamas. Mandela has also praised figures like Ismail Haniyeh, who is known to be a figure of Hamas, even after he was assassinated.

On Thursday, Mandela reacted to criticism of his position over the Palestinian resistance stating that the ANC, in South Africa, was the victims of violence through their policy of non-violence in their struggle. He likened the struggle in Palestine with that of South Africa under Apartheid, and the grandfather, Nelson Mandela, sided with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), when it was highly controversial at the time.

We will stand with the people of Palestine in their fight for justice and human rights,” Mandela added to express his continued solidarity with Palestine. He ended by reaffirming what binds the South African history with the Palestinian cause-a legacy of fighting for freedom.

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