Lamola: Government still probing mysterious arrival of Palestinian group at OR Tambo

Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola said the South African government is still investigating what he’s described as the mysterious arrival of a planeload of more than 150 Palestinians.

The group arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport on Friday, where they were left stranded on the tarmac for hours before finally being cleared to get off the charted plane.

Only several flew out to a different destination.

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Government has since confirmed that the Palestinians were without departure stamps, return tickets or details of accommodation.

Lamola addressed the matter while giving a state of readiness briefing at Nasrec on Monday on the upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit to be hosted in Joburg.

“It is indeed an issue of concern to us. It does look like it represents a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine into many different parts of the world and it’s a clearly orchestrated operation.”

Lamola said South Africa doesn’t expect other suspicious arrivals.

“We do not want any further flights to come our way because this is a clear agenda to cleanse our Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank, which South Africa is against.”

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