Visa barriers stop Mandla Mandela from addressing UK Palestine solidarity event

The Palestinian struggle will never be silenced, says Mandla Mandela, having been forced to address the Sheffield and District African Caribbean Community Association (Sadacca) virtually at the weekend after being unable to enter the UK as he awaited the issuing of his visa.

While the British embassy did not respond to requests for comment by deadline on Sunday, this further raised questions about freedom of expression especially in Western countries that claim to advocate for freedom of speech.

Mandela confirmed he addressed the scheduled speaking tour titled “Dismantling Apartheid from South Africa to Palestine”.

“We await the outcome of our visa application which can take from 15 to 50 days. It seems since the demise of James Bond, M is not coping and as a result everything has slowed down.

However, we continue with the programme and I have been addressing Palestinian supporters virtually. The Palestinian struggle will never be silenced,” said Mandela.

In a statement, the Sheffield Palestine Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid said they deeply regretted that Mandela was prevented from travelling to the UK.

“British officials had initially told him that his South African government passport did not require a visa to enter the UK.

“However, on Monday (last week) Mandla was informed that he did require a visa. So far, despite high-level approaches from senior ANC figures, the British embassy has not relented or issued a visa...By contrast, the Irish authorities have waived the visa requirement for him. We will not allow expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people to be silenced,” the statement read.

Africa4Palestine (AFP) expressed their support for Mandela.

“It appears the UK has repeated its conduct against the Mandela family and by extension the citizenry of South Africa.

“We are disappointed but not (surprised) given the billions invested in the genocide by countries including the UK. We stand with comrade Mandla in rejecting any requirement to cosy up to the West in order to get visas,” said Africa4Palestine.

Reuters recently reported that Britain will immediately suspend 30 of its 350 arms export licences with Israel because there was a risk such equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.

British exports amount to less than 1% of the total arms Israel receives, and the suspension was said to not have a material impact on Israel’s security, and Britain continued to support its right to “self-defence”.

* Additional reporting by Reuters

Cape Times