Protesters at the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria on 23 October 2023. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu) 
The ANC’s vote for a parliamentary resolution to cut SA’s diplomatic relations with Israel has cast those ties into limbo, with no certainty as to whether Pretoria will implement the ruling party’s decision.
Some officials in the national executive are clearly annoyed by the ANC vote, which they regard as a trespass by the party on the constitutional prerogative of the President and the Cabinet.
“Check section 231 of the Constitution,” said one irritated official. Section 231 says: “The negotiating and signing of all international agreements is the responsibility of the national executive.”
Members of Parliament at the National Assembly in Cape Town gather on 21 November 2023 to vote on an EFF motion to cut diplomatic relations with Israel. (Photo: Ziyanda Duda)
Officials point out that any decision on severing relations with Israel would have to be made by the Cabinet, which meets again on 29 November. It is understood that the ANC’s National Executive Committee may meet before then to discuss this highly consequential decision.
Within the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), there are mixed views. One senior diplomat told Daily Maverick that he believed Pretoria would implement the parliamentary resolution to sever relations with Israel.
Read more in Daily Maverick: National Assembly votes to cut diplomatic ties with Israel and shut embassy, but it’s symbolic until government acts
However, this week International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor told Parliament, “Breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel will be counterproductive as it will also affect our Representative Office in Ramallah, Palestine, and by implication weaken the meaningful role that South Africa can play in the Palestinian cause.”
But Dirco officials are putting facts on the ground which could make it difficult to maintain normal relations. On 6 November, Dirco announced that it was recalling its diplomats from the embassy in Tel Aviv for consultations and these three officials have just returned to South Africa.
A notice posted on the embassy there says: “Office closure. Kindly be advised that the South African embassy will be closed for business from Friday, 17 November until further notice. For enquiries please contact…
“Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to serving you in the future.”
Ramaphosa welcomes ceasefire
President Ramaphosa issued a polite but non-committal response to the ANC’s parliamentary vote, while making clear who has the final call:
“President Ramaphosa notes and appreciates Parliament’s guidance on our diplomatic relations with Israel, particularly with respect to the status of the Israeli embassy in South Africa. The President and Cabinet are engaged over the matter, which remains the responsibility of the national executive.”
The original parliamentary motion simply to cut ties with Israel was brought by the EFF, but the ANC negotiated an amendment which introduced conditions — diplomatic relations would be cut until a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and a lasting United Nations-facilitated peace were attained.
Protesters at the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria on 23 October 2023. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)
It is unclear, though, whether this amendment will give the national executive the wiggle room it seems to want to avoid cutting ties.
That possibility seemed to arise on Wednesday when Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire of at least four days to allow for Hamas to release 50 of the hostages it seized in its attack on Israel on 7 October and for Israel to release 150 Palestinian detainees. Israel also agreed to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Israel-Palestine War
Ramaphosa welcomed the deal, adding: “It is my hope that the achievement of this pause will strengthen efforts to achieve an outright end to the current conflict.
“This pause, which regrettably implies a possible resumption of conflict at some point, must be accompanied by tireless efforts to secure a durable political resolution of the decades-long challenge in the Middle East.”
‘Political posturing’
Emma Powell, the Democratic Alliance spokesperson on international relations and cooperation, dismissed the ANC vote as “simply political posturing”, noting that it would harm the interests of the many South Africans living both in Israel and Palestine more than it would harm Israel — or help Palestine.
“By withdrawing diplomats from Tel Aviv, our government has left more than 25,000 South African citizens to fend for themselves in a war zone, without access to emergency consular services.
“Given that the South African embassy in Ramallah is entirely dependent on our mission in Tel Aviv, South Africans in the State of Palestine now have no access to consular services, either,” she added.
“Where civilian casualties occur, families will have no available channels through which to arrange repatriation of remains in line with traditional and religious rites.
“Citizens will now have to travel to Jordan or Egypt, at great cost, in order to access emergency services from our government. The poorest of our citizens, who cannot afford to travel into neighbouring countries, will remain trapped and voiceless.
“The ANC’s decision is of no consequence to either Israel or Hamas. Rather, it simply exacerbates the plight of ordinary South Africans trapped in the region.”
Powell said that severing relations with Israel meant that South Africa no longer had the ability to influence the outcome of the crisis in the region.
However, the South African BDS Coalition — which has long advocated a complete boycott of Israel — welcomed the parliamentary resolution.
“There is no role for diplomacy with a settler-colonial apartheid state that is guilty of genocide against a population that it occupies. South Africa should not be having relations with a state that perpetrates war crimes with impunity and treats the United Nations, international law and the rest of the world with utter disdain,” said Roshan Dadoo, the coordinator of the SA BDS Coalition.
He noted that a day before the parliamentary vote, Israel had recalled its ambassador to SA, Eliav Belotserkovsky, “for consultations”.
“We urge our government to act swiftly to implement the resolution of the National Assembly, and thus ensure that the apartheid ambassador will not return to our country,” Dadoo said. DM