Hijacking Mandela’s Legacy for Hamas

To equate the liberation struggle of South Africans with the militant agenda of Hamas is not solidarity, it is disrespect. And South Africans should not stand for it.

Generated by ChatGPT

Written By: Mahangani Thabelo

The Global Sumud Flotilla has been marketed as a “humanitarian mission” bound for Gaza. In reality, it is a floating theatre of propaganda. Draped in the rhetoric of “solidarity” and “human rights,” the flotilla’s real purpose is not to deliver aid, but to hijack South Africa’s most sacred legacy, Nelson Mandela, and repurpose his name as a shield for Hamas’s agenda.

This manipulation is not accidental. It is calculated. By invoking Mandela’s image, flotilla activists attempt to cloak their voyage in moral authority, hoping South Africans and the international community will ignore the uncomfortable truth: that this was never about feeding hungry people or healing wounds in Gaza. It was about optics, headlines, and manufacturing outrage against Israel.

Mandela’s Legacy Is Being Misused

Perhaps the most grotesque part of this saga is the reckless comparison made by Dr. Fatima Hendricks, who likened the flotilla’s voluntary sea voyage to Nelson Mandela’s decades of imprisonment on Robben Island. To compare a comfortable cabin on a yacht to a cell of stone, chains, and forced labour is not only historically dishonest, it is an insult to every South African who endured real oppression.

Nelson Mandela himself was clear about his principles. He supported dialogue, sovereignty, and peaceful resolution. He recognized the legitimacy of Palestinian aspirations but never endorsed extremist groups like Hamas, whose founding charter openly calls for the annihilation of Jews. To drag his name into the service of jihadist propaganda is historical vandalism.

Mandela said: “I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me… I was convinced that we would win people over by our conduct, not violence.” That line alone is enough to demolish the flotilla’s attempt to equate Mandela with Hamas, an organization that thrives on rockets, human shields, and the destruction of peace.

To equate the liberation struggle of South Africans with the militant agenda of Hamas is not solidarity, it is disrespect. And South Africans should not stand for it.

The Flotilla: More Hate Than Help

The flotilla has been described by its organizers as a “humanitarian mission.” Yet even a surface examination reveals its true nature. There was no serious plan to deliver large-scale food, water, or medical supplies. There was no UN backing, no Red Cross coordination, no engagement with neutral humanitarian agencies. Instead, the flotilla carried politicians, activists, and celebrities whose goal was media attention, not aid.

Among them were Mandla Mandela, the old grandson of Nelson Mandela, author Zukisa Wanner, activist Reaaz Moolla, and Dr. Fatima Hendricks. They released videos claiming they had been “abducted” by Israeli forces, stoking fear and outrage. Yet the truth was far more mundane: they had knowingly violated Israel’s legal naval blockade, were redirected, and safely returned. Their supposed “ordeal” was a stunt, not a humanitarian act.

History provides context. In 2010, the Mavi Marmara flotilla attempted a similar provocation, resulting in violence when armed activists attacked Israeli soldiers boarding the ship. That episode revealed what these flotillas are truly about: confrontation and optics. The Global Sumud Flotilla is simply a sequel, designed to bait Israel into reacting and then broadcast the response as “proof” of oppression.

Lies off the Tunisian Coast

No propaganda stunt is complete without a dramatic lie. This time, flotilla members claimed an Israeli drone attempted to bomb their boat near Tunisia. The story spread across social media, inflaming outrage and feeding the narrative of Israeli aggression.

But Tunisia itself swiftly denied the incident. There was no drone, no attack, no attempted bombing. The lie was manufactured precisely because outrage is oxygen for the flotilla. Without it, their voyage is nothing more than a group of activists on a yacht, playing at revolution while sipping bottled water.

It is worth asking: if their cause were truly humanitarian, why the need for lies? Why the need for theatrics? Because the flotilla was never about Gaza’s suffering. It was about creating the appearance of crisis to weaponize public sympathy against Israel.

Hamas Handshakes and South African Gullibility

Even more troubling than the lies are the associations. Several of the South African participants have been pictured and recorded meeting with Hamas representatives. These are not innocent handshakes, they are deliberate signals of solidarity with an internationally recognized terrorist organization.

Hamas has a long history of diverting humanitarian aid for military purposes. Food, fuel, and medicine sent to Gaza have been stolen and redirected to rockets, tunnels, and weapons caches. To align with Hamas under the banner of “humanitarianism” is to enable the very force that impoverishes and endangers ordinary Gazans.

And yet, South Africans are expected to swallow the narrative whole. Words like “apartheid” and “genocide” are thrown around not because they are accurate, but because they are emotionally charged. They exploit our national trauma. They prey on our history. They count on our gullibility.

This manipulation is deliberate. Activists like Mandla Mandela, Wanner, Moolla, and Hendricks know the power of apartheid analogies in South Africa. They know how quickly those words inflame opinion. And they use that power not to advance truth, but to launder Hamas propaganda through the moral capital of our liberation struggle.

Fatima’s Robben Island Comparison: A National Insult

Dr. Fatima Hendricks’s attempt to compare her flotilla experience with Nelson Mandela’s incarceration is perhaps the most disgraceful element of this entire saga. To compare Robben Island, with its solitary confinement, forced labour, and brutality, to a voluntary boat trip is an insult to South Africans. It trivializes the pain of our past for the benefit of foreign militants.

Let us be clear: Mandela never sailed with terrorists. He never sought to provoke foreign governments into confrontation for political theatre. His struggle was rooted in justice, negotiation, and building a society for all South Africans.

To claim his mantle while aligning with Hamas is not only dishonest; it is a betrayal of the very principles Mandela stood for. South Africans should see this for what it is: an attempt to cheapen our history for the sake of another group’s propaganda war.

Real Struggles at Home vs Imported Propaganda

South Africa is collapsing under the weight of its own crises. Ministers are assassinated in broad daylight. Corruption rings strangle the state. Our economy is suffocated by unemployment and poverty. Our commissions of inquiry expose rot but deliver little justice.

And yet, instead of focusing on these urgent problems, some of our public figures find time to play revolutionaries on a yacht in the Mediterranean. They find energy to champion Hamas-linked propaganda while ignoring the suffering of South Africans in Soweto, Limpopo, or KwaZulu-Natal.

This is not solidarity. It is escapism. It is the luxury of elites who prefer foreign theatre over domestic responsibility. South Africa cannot afford this distraction. We cannot solve Gaza while our own country burns.

Mandela himself once said: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” But he did not mean Hamas. He did not mean rockets and tunnels. He meant peace, coexistence, and justice. Those are values South Africans should still champion, but not at the expense of our own nation, and not in service of terrorist propaganda.

Mandela’s Legacy Belongs to South Africans, Not Hamas

The Global Sumud Flotilla is not humanitarian aid. It is political theatre. It is propaganda designed to bait Israel, manipulate emotions, and hijack Mandela’s name to launder Hamas’s image.

South Africans must resist this manipulation. We must protect Mandela’s legacy from distortion and refuse to let our national trauma be weaponized for foreign propaganda wars. Our fight is here at home, against corruption, poverty, crime, and political decay.

Mandela was no terrorist sympathizer. He was a man of justice, peace, and integrity. To equate his struggle with the theatrics of Hamas-linked activists on a comfortable boat is an insult to him, to our history, and to the people of South Africa.

It is time we call this flotilla what it is: a dangerous lie dressed as solidarity.

Mahangani Thabelo is a multifaceted individual known for his work as a biologist, human rights activist, and former student leader at the university of the Witwatersrand. he is also recognized as a Pentecostal scholar and a vocal pro-Israel advocate. he engages in discussions about religious freedom, regional security, and the rise of extremism in Africa and the middle east.