Party divisions on SA genocide case against Israel – newbies Change Starts Now, Rise Mzansi in support, Maimane’s Bosa says it’s a ‘misstep’

10 Jan 2024

The International Court of Justice in the Hague will hold its first hearing in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel on Thursday. Which South African political parties back Pretoria’s case against Israel at the World Court?

Political parties are divided on their positions on the South African government’s decision to approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with an application for Israel’s military assault on Gaza to be declared as genocide.

The Israel-Gaza war takes on a new dimension as South Africa enters a general election year and its political parties kick into higher gear with electioneering.

New kid on the political scene, Roger Jardine’s Change Starts Now, which launched in December 2023, has taken a strong but measured stance in support of South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ.

“We in South Africa well know that despite immense historical oppression and suffering, there is a path to peace, to reconciliation, and to shared futures — through accountability, pragmatism and a constitutional, inclusive democracy. We also know that a true path to peace requires leadership and vision,” said Jardine in a statement on Tuesday evening.

“It is in that light that we welcome the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) hearing later this week for provisional measures relating to Israel’s obligations under the Genocide Convention. The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, and its ruling will provide impetus to and consolidate opinion within the global community as to how a lasting peace based on human rights and social justice can be achieved.”

The party also firmly endorsed the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

“We further call for the immediate and unconditional release of all Palestinian prisoners and all Israeli hostages and for full humanitarian access to Gaza, consistent with obligations under international law,” Jardine continued.

The DA took a more moderate line on South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ, saying “any country has the right to approach the ICJ. The DA will await the Court’s findings.” The party has previously faced both internal and external contestation on its handling of the issue.

“It is, however, a great pity that the South African government has consistently ignored gross human rights violations on our own doorstep,” added the DA’s spokesperson on international relations, Emma Powell.

“The DA continues to support a viable two-state solution as per the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and calls for an urgent mediated settlement to this abhorrent war,” said Powell.

South Africa filed the application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) — the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN) — on 29 December 2023, accusing Israel of genocide in its war on Gaza, and seeking to halt its attack on the enclave, pending the court’s final decision on whether Israel is perpetrating genocide.

Read in Daily Maverick: How South Africa seeks an order to stop the carnage in Gaza and prevent a genocide

South Africa’s 84-page application details what it says are atrocities committed by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) against the civilians of Gaza, of which more than 23,000 people have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

International aid organisations have been sounding the alarm that famine is looming and a public health crisis is unfolding in the region, with the UN humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths this week describing Gaza as “uninhabitable”.

The application by South Africa and the response by Israel will be heard on Thursday, 11 January and Friday 12 January.

Israel has denied that it is committing genocide in Gaza and has accused South Africa of aiding and abetting Hamas by bringing the case to the ICJ.

Read in Daily Maverick: What Israel is likely to say in its defence at the International Court of Justice

Support from political quarters

Also fresh on the political scene, Songezo Zibi’s Rise Mzansi has backed South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. Rise Mzansi has “previously called for impartial, international investigations into war crimes and other gross abuses of human rights in the conflict,” Zibi told Daily Maverick.

“As a UN body, and with Israel (1949) and South Africa (1998) being signatories to the Genocide Convention, the Thursday hearing falls within the scope of that call, and we support it. We also hope that unlike before when its orders have been routinely ignored, this time will be different,” he said.

Like Rise Mzansi, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Good have both issued particularly strong statements in support of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

The EFF said it stood “in full support and solidarity with the decision taken by the South African government to file an application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against apartheid Israel.”

The move to ask the ICJ to declare that Israel has violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by deliberately trying to destroy part of the Palestinian people, the red berets described as a “bold and commendable step towards seeking justice and accountability.”

The EFF continued by “earnestly” calling on the international community to rally behind South Africa’s application.

Good’s Brett Herron said South Africa’s application to the ICJ was a “welcome attempt to deliver justice to Palestinian civilians who are being unjustly collectively punished for Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023”.

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Not all in favour

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) described the South African government’s genocide case against Israel as “a joke”, and accused the government of taking sides and having “never been clear on condemning Hamas”.

The crisis in the Middle East has caused a rupture in ANC-PA relations in recent months, with the ANC looking to cut ties with the PA after it took a strong pro-Israel stance on the conflict. The ANC has a longstanding history with Palestine and has openly supported the Palestinian cause.

Read in Daily Maverick: ANC NEC supports cutting ties with ‘dictatorial’ EFF and pro-Israel PA in municipal coalitions

PA leader Gayton McKenzie in November 2023, said his party was willing to relinquish working with the ANC in Johannesburg, rather than change course on its stance in support of Israel. But, in a response to Daily Maverick on Wednesday, PA national spokesperson Steve Motale took a slightly more temperate line on the party’s position.

“We have never taken a side, except to push for a genuine two-state solution, which would bring the violence to an end. We have also been clear from the start that we condemn Hamas, who themselves preach and pursue policies and actions of clearly stated and performed genocide… We support a free Palestine too,” said Motale.

Like the PA, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) accused the South African government of taking sides by lodging its court case with the ICJ.

“While the ACDP mourns the loss of innocent lives on both sides of the Israel-Gaza war, we believe that the South African government could have played a far more constructive role in influencing Hamas to release hostages after the deadly attack on October 7, and even to surrender, to avoid the loss of civilian lives, and to seek to bring about a lasting peace in the Middle East.

“Regrettably, by now taking sides by lodging this court case with the ICJ, it can no longer play a role as an honest peace-broker,” the statement by ACDP leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe read.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Middle East crisis news hub

The ACDP also believed that the South African government will not be able to prove that Israel has “the necessary genocidal intent against the Palestinian people as required by the Genocide Convention”.

Mmusi Maimane’s Build One South Africa (Bosa) was of the view that the courts are not an “appropriate mechanism to achieve the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Middle East.” The party has previously come out strongly in support of Israel.

“South Africa’s very own history shows that to resolve conflict, everyone must gather around the negotiation table in good faith and with level heads.

“South Africa should be using its resources to figure out a peaceful resolution to end violence, protect lives, and arrive at a two-state solution. Protracting the battle instead of resolving it is a misstep by the ANC government,” said Bosa’s Graham Charters.

The Freedom Front Plus’ Corné Mulder said while the party was “very concerned about the loss of life during the Hamas-Israel war”, the “court case by the ANC government is a tragic political stunt to try and rescue some credibility of this discredited failed government.”

“The question is why could the ANC not muster the courage to take Russia to the ICJ in the case of Ukraine,” he said. DM

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Support from political quarters

Not all in favour