The ANC is expected to support the EFF motion in the National Assembly on Thursday to have the Israeli embassy in SA closed amid that country’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
This comes as President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that SA has officially referred Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.
The ANC’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, told Business Day on Wednesday that the governing party will vote for the closure of Tel Aviv’s embassy in SA.
This is likely to result in Israeli ambassador Eliav Belotserkovsky’s expulsion from the country, despite some opposition parties, led by the DA, stating publicly that they are unlikely to support such a move.
The ANC holds 230 of 400 seats in the National Assembly, while the EFF has 44. For a motion to pass, parties require a majority of 50% in support of the motion. The DA has 85 seats.
“We will support the motion,” Mbalula said.
The ANC has been consistent in its call for stronger action against Israel. But any official decision that affirms the government’s support for Palestine risks damaging economic and diplomatic relations with Israel, which has the backing of some of SA’s biggest trading partners, including the US and UK.
SA exported goods worth $357.46m to Israel in 2022, according to the UN Comtrade database on international trade.
ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane explained why the party thinks it is important to stand up in a vote against Israel.
“The Israel government are trying to eliminate an entire nation. That is exactly what it is. No government can go out [and] use its machinery the way it is and claim any different. We have to stand up.”
Mokonyane said that the ANC is not anti-Jewish or against the people of Israel.
“What Israel is doing is creating tens of thousands of Palestinian militants. That is not in the interest of the people of Israel,” said Mokonyane.
Mbalula has insisted in recent days that the conflict between Israel and Palestine is not a war but a genocide of innocent people. He said the ANC and South Africans who spent hundreds of years under apartheid could not just stand by and do nothing while thousands of Palestinians are being killed.
“Our government has shown signs of movements. We are saying, ‘President Ramaphosa, we appreciate this, but you must move faster.’ We are sick and tired of the apartheid Israel and we must demonstrate that with our actions,” said Mbalula.
The ANC and DA have been at odds over the Israel-Hamas conflict, with tension turning into running street battles in Cape Town in recent days.
ICC referral
Ramaphosa reaffirmed SA’s support for the Palestinian cause during a state visit to Qatar on Wednesday. He also confirmed that SA has officially referred Netanyahu to the ICC over the bombing of Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians, women and children.
“The referral has been made,” Ramaphosa said at a media engagement. “There is a need for the whole world to rise and call upon the Israeli government to cease fire, to stop what is happening, and we want the ICC to investigate, and of course legal measures then need to be taken at a global level.
“Our commitment to the struggle of the Palestinians is irrevocable and it will go beyond just political. It will be very practical,” he said.
Last week, tension flared in the National Assembly as political parties were divided over a move by the government to withdraw its diplomats from its embassy in Tel Aviv.
SA has not had an ambassador there since 2018.
Speaking in parliament last week, the EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi laid the grounds for Thursday’s debate.
“We should fire the ambassador of Israel. We can’t be friends with Israel until they establish a society in compliance with international law. That means Israel in its current form will have to transform. It is an apartheid state. It has to be a state for everybody,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mokonyane and ANC treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa met the SA Jewish Board of Deputies about the conflict.
The board of deputies said in a statement after the meeting that it “explained how let down our community had felt by their lack of any form of sympathy for the Israeli terror victims, mostly civilians, murdered by Hamas in the week after the massacre.
“It also shared the escalating levels of anti-Semitism in our country, which have increased nearly 10-fold since the conflict began, and how this was being fuelled by inflammatory rhetoric by some in political leadership.
“During the meeting, the ANC acknowledged the hurt its stance had caused the Jewish community. It further made an appeal to rebuild trust and to embark on a process of dialogue and re-engagement with the community.”
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