Ramaphosa demands Israel free South African activists seized on Gaza flotilla

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday, 2 October, called on Israel to release the activists, including Nelson Mandela’s grandson, on the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), saying Israel’s interception of the boats and abduction of the activists was a violation of international law. 

Four South Africans were detained on Wednesday night. On Friday morning, their whereabouts remained unknown.

Read more: Flotilla SOS — ‘if you are reading this, we have been illegally seized by the Israeli military’

“The interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla is another grave offence by Israel of global solidarity and sentiment that is aimed at relieving suffering in Gaza and advancing peace in the region.

“On behalf of our government and nation, I call on Israel to immediately release the South Africans abducted in international waters, and to release other nationals who have tried to reach Gaza with humanitarian aid.

“The interception of the flotilla in international waters is contrary to international law and violates the sovereignty of every nation whose flag was flown on the dozens of vessels in the flotilla. This action also violates an International Court of Justice injunction that humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow unimpeded,” Ramaphosa said in a statement. 

Read more: Mandela, 3 other South Africans detained by Israeli special forces as Gaza Flotilla ‘attacked’

Ramaphosa added the GSF represented “solidarity with Gaza, not confrontation with Israel,” and called on Israel to ensure the life-saving humanitarian aid on board the flotilla reached Palestinians in Gaza.   

“My thoughts are with all of the abductees and their families, and it is my expectation that Israel will release the human rights activists as these abductions serve no purpose in the context of efforts to secure peace in the Middle East,” he said. 

South African activists Nkosi Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, Zukiswa Wanner, Reaaz Moolla and Dr Fatima Hendricks were among those detained by Israeli forces on their boats, which were part of the GSF, on Wednesday night.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, comprising around 45 boats, began its journey to Gaza last month, in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and break Israel’s siege on the region. The group included more than 500 activists, volunteers and politicians from 47 countries, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. 

The GSF was the largest flotilla yet to try to break Israel’s blockade. 

Read more: SA activists on the flotilla risk their lives to break Israel’s Gaza blockade

As of 7am on Thursday a number of boats had either been intercepted by Israeli forces or blocked from sailing further as they approached 40 nautical miles of Gaza’s shore, Daily Maverick reported. 

In a press statement on Thursday night, the GSF organisers said “hundreds of participants had been abducted and reportedly taken aboard the large naval vessel, the MSC Johannesburg”. 

“This was after they were assaulted with water cannons, doused with skunk water, and had their communications systematically jammed in yet more acts of aggression against unarmed civilians. 

“Adalah lawyers, who represent the flotilla participants before Israeli authorities, have been given minimal updates and have not been informed on whether the estimated 443 flotilla volunteers, who were forcibly taken from their vessels, will arrive at Ashdod [in southern Israel], where they are expected to be processed under illegal detention,” read the statement.

Interception Update 10 1 2 by

The organisers said the Mikeno, sailing under the French flag, may have entered Palestinian territorial waters, according to Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, but remains out of contact. The Marinette, sailing under the Polish flag, is still connected via Starlink and is in communication, carrying a total of six passengers on board. 

South African Jews for a Free Palestine’s Jared Sacks, who was initially part of South Africa’s GSF team, told Daily Maverick that it took Israeli forces about 14 hours to intercept the boats and abduct those on board. 

Sacks said some of the South Africans, including Mandela, should’ve already been seen by lawyers representing the group, but “they’ve been denied the ability to see those who have been abducted”. 

“We don’t know what’s going on because Israel is not providing information.

“No one’s contactable right now, so we have no confirmation that no one’s hurt; that everyone is, in fact, there,” he said. 

Read more: Humanitarian flotilla under attack, en route to break Gaza siege

On Thursday, Israel said it would deport the activists on the GSF, saying that none of the boats had breached its blockade of the Gaza Strip, according to a report from Associated Press. Its Foreign Ministry has dismissed the action as a “provocation,” saying that various nations have offered to deliver the aid the boats were carrying, the publication reported. 

“Hamas-Sumud passengers on their yachts are making their way safely and peacefully to Israel, where deportation procedures to Europe will begin,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement on X. 

Global protests

Israel’s interception of the boats on Wednesday and Thursday, has sparked criticism and condemnation around the world, triggering mass protests, diplomatic rebukes and retaliation, according to The Guardian. Thousands of people took to the streets in protest in various major cities including Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Berlin and Buenos Aires.  

Israel’s interception of the flotilla comes amid growing condemnation of its conduct in the Gaza Strip. Earlier this month, the Israeli military began its ground incursion into Gaza City, deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and forcibly displacing thousands of Palestinians once again. 

Since Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 hostages taken, Israel has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. 

At a press briefing at the United Nations on Thursday, deputy UN spokesperson for the secretary general, Farhan Haq, told reporters that the UN’s priority is avoiding any harm to those on board the vessels which Israel had intercepted. 

“We hope that they will be treated fairly and with respect, with their rights and their dignity [intact],” said Haq.

“Our belief is that people who are simply carrying humanitarian aid should be left alone,” he said. DM

Victoria O’Regan is a 2025 Dag Hammarskjöld Journalism Fellow whose reporting on the 80th UN General Assembly and its activities in New York has been sponsored by the Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists.