JOHANNESBURG—South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that his office is willing to participate in any internationally driven process to mediate an end to the violence in the Middle East, saying he’s “gravely concerned at the devastating escalation in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the atrocities committed against civilian populations.”
Clayson Monyela, the deputy director-general for diplomacy, said South Africa “stands ready to share its experience in mediation and conflict resolution as it has done on the continent and around the world.”
The South African government has acknowledged that it’s already talking with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, although only about “getting humanitarian aid to Palestine” amid Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip in response to Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Gaza-based Hamas terrorists.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has built strong relations with the Palestinian Authority, and with several organizations fighting to “free Palestine,” since 1994, when the ANC became South Africa’s first democratically elected government.
Soon after becoming president, Nelson Mandela declared: “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of Palestinians.”
The ANC calls Israel an “apartheid state” for “mistreating and dehumanizing” Palestinians, and it has previously compared Hamas’s attacks on Israel as similar to the ANC’s armed struggle against white nationalism.
The South African government has a large, well-staffed headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank, with a mission to lend “material and moral support” to Palestinians.
In contrast, it has downgraded its embassy in Tel Aviv several times. In 2019, it withdrew its ambassador to Israel and in March the ANC-majority Parliament voted to cut diplomatic ties with the Jewish state even further, citing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and “ongoing Israeli occupation and abuses of international human rights law in occupied Palestine.”
Meanwhile, the Ramaphosa administration has refused to outrightly condemn the horrific attacks on Israel and to brand them as terrorism.
According to South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the “conflict” has occurred because of Israel’s “continued illegal occupation of Palestine land, continued settlement expansion, desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Christian holy sites, and ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people.”
“During the call, and in line with the government’s position, Minister Pandor reiterated South Africa’s solidarity and support for the people of Palestine and expressed sadness and regret for the loss of innocent lives both Palestinians and Israelis,“ the statement reads. ”[They] discussed how to get necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza and other parts of the Palestinian territories.”
Media reports that Ms. Pandor offered support for Hamas’s attacks on Israelis, and subsequent taking of hostages “are untrue and meant to impugn the minister and the government of South Africa.” Mr. Monyela said.
He emphasized that Ms. Pandor’s talks with Mr. Haniyeh are “in line with South Africa’s readiness to engage all interlocutors as part of facilitating dialogue to end the ongoing conflict.”
Local and international Jewish organizations condemned Ms. Pandor’s discussions with the Hamas leader, saying the South African government was clearly “on the side of terrorists.”
The ANC’s “friendly relations” with Hamas in the aftermath of the brutal Oct. 7 attack that left 1,400 Israelis dead, are a “betrayal of Jews everywhere,” professor Karen Milner, chairperson of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, told The Epoch Times.
“We took note, with dismay, how members of the government behaved this weekend, even wearing Palestinian scarves at a rally in support of Hamas, and calling Israel a ‘terrorist state.’
“It’s disgusting, and this after Hamas slaughtered babies and children and kidnapped elderly and disabled people. If that’s not worthy of being called terrorism, I don’t know what is,” Ms. Milner added.
ANC leaders’ actions were “designed to show solidarity with Palestinians in their attempts to get self-determination and for the ANC’s dedication to a two-state solution,” party spokesperson Pule Mabe told The Epoch Times.
However, Ms. Milner maintains that it will be “impossible” for Pretoria to play any role in negotiations to end the violence, given the ANC’s “obvious bias” toward Hamas and the Palestinian cause.
Mr. Ramaphosa’s wish for South Africa to be part of a mediation process “isn’t as ridiculous as it seems” according to a veteran U.S. diplomat who worked on the Israeli-Palestinian issue for several U.S. administrations.
“One of my old bosses, President Jimmy Carter, wrote a book [in 2007] on the Israel–Palestine dilemma called ‘Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid,’” said professor John Stremlau, now an international relations expert at Johannesburg’s Wits University.
“He was initially condemned by Israel and by various Jewish organizations for being pro-Palestinian. But, when the dust settled, Jimmy Carter was still respected by all, including Israel, for being an authoritative voice on these matters and for trying to bring peace to this volatile part of the Middle East,” he said.
“What I’m trying to say here is that no one, not even Carter, can be seen to be completely impartial when it comes to this issue. No country that eventually takes part in any mediation or peace effort is going to be seen as unbiased.
“But, for any of these efforts to be successful, I believe it’s of utmost importance that the Palestinians feel they have a friend at the table, comparable to the U.S. support for Israel. South Africa would be a good choice to be that friend.”
Mr. Stremlau said the Biden administration clearly regards South Africa as a “beacon of hope” in Africa, despite recent tensions between Washington and the ANC government over the war in Ukraine.
“It does not want to lose South Africa, the continent’s most significant democratic voice, completely to the Chinese and the Russians,“ he said. ”That’s why Biden administration officials are talking closely with South African officials all the time.
“So, could South Africa join the United States around a table to help negotiate an end to this catastrophe? I believe so.”
He said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ms. Pandor have a good working relationship.
“They have a very rich dialogue going about a whole bunch of issues. Yes, they have differences, but the point I’m making is that they’re talking all the time. I stress this repeatedly: South Africa’s historical and overt support for Palestine and the United States’ unwavering support for Israel could complement one another at the negotiating table.”
Mr. Stremlau said he has studied South African government statements since 1994 about the situation in Israel and Palestine.
“Never have I seen any reference to Hamas. The identification is with the Palestinian people and their aspirations for a secure homeland, a home to all who live in it, including Muslims and Jews and Christians.”
He said the ANC’s reaction to recent events in the Middle East is consistent with how it usually responds to conflicts.
“It has refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and corresponding Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Now, it has refused to condemn Hamas atrocities.
“This is a foreign policy stance and does not mean the ANC agrees with any atrocities. Therefore I think that if there is a peace process, South Africa is well-positioned to play a significant part in that.”
Mr. Stremlau described Mr. Ramaphosa as a “highly skilled, highly regarded negotiator,” referring to the “critical role” the South African leader played in securing the Good Friday Agreement that ended years of conflict in Ireland in 1998.
The accord resulted in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) laying down its arms, and its former political wing, Sinn Fein, becoming a ruling partner in Northern Ireland’s government.
Before Mr. Ramaphosa and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari stepped in, various paramilitaries had fought for decades over whether Northern Ireland should remain British, or form part of a united Ireland.
“Ramaphosa and Ahtisaari were trusted by the IRA and the British government,“ Mr. Stremlau said. ”They went all over Europe having secret meetings with guerrillas to broker peace. Ramaphosa knows how to talk with so-called terrorists and to get them around a table with their enemies; he has proved that.”
During apartheid, Mr. Ramaphosa was a trade unionist who often negotiated settlements between the white nationalist government, big business, and labor.
Mr. Ramaphosa doesn’t wish to be “presumptuous,” but is willing to consider any “serious, realistic” offer for South Africa to play a role in mediation and negotiating peace, “if it is part of an effort backed by the international community, and especially by the United Nations,” presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told The Epoch Times.
However, for any process to move forward, “reasonable leaders” from both the Israeli and Palestinian sides would have to participate in talks, perhaps guided by Mr. Ramaphosa or someone of similar stature, Mr. Stremlau said.
“Having hardliners from either side involved is only going to cause more trouble,” he stated. “Hamas is clearly not an interlocutor. The Palestinians have to come up with new leaders who have the authority and vision to own a process.
“Equally, the Israelis have to come up with new leaders that would be willing to negotiate, unlike Benjamin Netanyahu. Then maybe, just maybe, we can stop this cauldron of violence and the humanitarian tragedy that’s unfolding in the Gaza Strip.”
