At least 153 Palestinian passengers were not allowed to disembark from an aircraft on Thursday, only to be allowed on Friday, after officials found that they did not hold the required travel papers. Humanitarian aid organisation Gift of the Givers has since stepped in to assist, providing accommodation for some of those affected.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Ramaphosa said the matter is receiving urgent attention.

“The issue of the Palestinians who have been brought here is a matter that we are paying attention to,” he said.

“We obviously need to look at the origin and the reason why they have been brought here, and ordinarily we would have said they should go back because they did not have any documentation.”

He said government had opted for a compassionate approach given SA’s longstanding solidarity with the people of Palestine.

“But out of empathy and out of compassion, and because they are a people that we as SA have raised our hands to support, we felt that we should accept them and process their matter,” he said.

Ramaphosa confirmed that several state entities are involved in assessing the situation.

“Our Intelligence Agency is involved, our Home Affairs and the Department of International Relations and Co-operation are also involved,” he said. “So we are going to do a proper evaluation and see what the future holds when it comes to this.”

–SABC/ChannelAfrica–