No UK permit for Mandela

'UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR': CITES EXPLICIT SUPPORT FOR HAMAS AND HEZBOLLAH

- Eric Naki

Nelson Mandela's grandson, Mandla, has been refused a visa to visit the United Kingdom (UK) by the British government for his alleged support of and for "glorifying" 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.

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.

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.