Chaos has erupted after a major nine-date speaking tour by Nelson Mandela’s grandson was thrown into doubt when he did not receive a UK visa in time for his flight.

Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela has reportedly cancelled his flight to the UK, where he was due to address a series of pro-Palestine events in eight cities - Sheffield, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Bristol and Brighton - including one alongside Labour MPs.

On 7 October 2023, the day of the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel in which 1,139 people died and hundreds were taken hostage, Mandela said: “We support the Palestinian right to resist and call on all resistance formations to likewise support Operation Al Aqsa Flood and intensify the struggle on all fronts.”

He also told the international community to “rise to the occasion and support Hamas and the Palestinian resistance in fighting their oppressor”.

After Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by Israel in Tehran in July, Mandela eulogised him as a "great leader and an inspiration to all revolutionaries and freedom fighters of the world”.

His grandfather, Nelson Mandela, was a strong supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was at that point considered a terrorist organisation by the US and Israel.