Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela, the grandson of South African anti-Apartheid champion Nelson Mandela, reportedly did not receive a visa in time to fly to the United Kingdom for a speaking tour that started on October 10. Under UK guidelines on visa issuance, the government would have ample justification for denying a visa to an individual like Mandela who has openly supported Hamas and called on others to support Hamas’s war against Israel.
According to a Sheffield-based anti-Israel group that was set to host him, British officials initially told Mandela that his South African government passport did not require a visa but informed him on October 7 that he would in fact need a visa. Mandela lost his seat in South Africa’s parliament in May, but it is unclear whether he still holds a government passport. UK visas typically take three weeks to process. Ireland, where Mandela is slated to speak later this month, reportedly waived his visa requirement.
The UK Home Office faced questions prior to Mandela’s scheduled arrival as to whether it should bar the South African over his inflammatory rhetoric. In the wake of the October 7, 2023, attack in which Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 250, Mandela urged support for the terrorist group. At a rally in November 2023, Mandela shouted, “Viva Hamas.” He continued, “We want to say to Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian resistance, Hezbollah, and the Mujahideen, intensify the struggle in occupied Palestine and in Gaza.” Using the name Hamas gave to the October 7 terror rampage, he called on Palestinians to “support operation Al Aqsa Flood and intensify the struggle on all fronts.”
Beyond pro-Hamas rhetoric, Mandela hosted three Hamas officials in South Africa in December 2023 for an event honoring his grandfather’s legacy. And since May 2024, Mandela has been a board member of the League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds and Palestine, which is run by Hamid bin Abdullah al-Ahmar. The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned al-Ahmar earlier this month for raising funds on behalf of Hamas. Treasury stated that he is a key member of the team managing Hamas’s investment portfolio and provided support to the Al-Quds International Foundation, which Treasury sanctioned in 2012 for being a Hamas-controlled charity.
Mandela is reportedly close with Ebrahim Gabriels, the director of the South African branch of the al-Quds International Foundation. Gabriels officiated at Mandela’s wedding and reportedly guided Mandela during his conversion to Islam. The website for the Union of Good, a global charity network the United States sanctioned for raising money on behalf of Hamas, listed Gabriels as a board member in the early 2000s. Gabriels was senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk’s gateway to South Africa’s Muslim community, according to a biography of Marzouk. And in August 2024, Gabriels attended the funeral of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar.
Mandela also has a record of violence. In 2014, he was charged with assault and pointing a firearm at a teacher in a “road rage” incident. While the firearms charge was dropped, he was found guilty of assault. Additionally, he is reportedly estranged from several members of his grandfather’s family.
London’s Metropolitan Police warned those who may be tempted to support Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are banned in the United Kingdom, that the law is very clear: “Anyone displaying symbols, wording or otherwise indicating support for a proscribed organisation risks arrest. The same is true for anyone who appears to be endorsing, celebrating or justifying the actions of those organisations.”
The United Kingdom has guidelines for denying entry to individuals whose “presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.” They include engaging in extremism and associating with “individuals involved in terrorism, extremism, war crimes or criminality.” Mandela’s extreme rhetoric, support for the UK-designated terrorist group Hamas, and association with individuals tied to Hamas justify his being denied entry.
David May is a research manager and senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Toby Dershowitz is the managing director at FDD Action. FDD Action is a non-partisan 501(c)(4) organization established to advocate for effective policies to promote U.S. national security and defend free nations. Follow David and Toby on X @DavidSamuelMay and @TobyDersh. Follow FDD on X @FDD.