president@presidency.gov.za
info@cyrilramaphosa.org
minister@dirco.gov.za
cicc@dirco.gov.za
rosahelp@dirco.gov.za
info@dirco.gov.za
——
Cutting off diplomatic ties with Israel has already been approved by the Parliament of South Africa. Our elected representatives in Parliament voted on Tuesday, 21 November 2023, by 248 to 91 to close the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria and suspend diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv. But there has been no action from the Executive.
We therefore call on President Ramphosa and Minister Lamola to cut off all diplomatic ties, including shutting the embassy.
There can be no ‘normal’ relations with a genocidal and apartheid regime. This is entirely within your control; act now!
We call on you, President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, and the Government of South Africa, to cut all diplomatic ties with Israel and shut down the Israeli embassy in South Africa. You have rightly brought a case of genocide against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), so you have determined that Israel is committing genocide. How then can we continue to have diplomatic and economic relations with that genocidal state?
We, as a country, and all who live here are tainted by maintaining diplomatic relations with the Israeli regime that is committing such barbaric acts with such callous inhumanity.
Cutting off diplomatic ties with Israel has already been approved by the Parliament of South Africa. Our elected representatives in Parliament voted on Tuesday, 21 November 2023, by 248 to 91 to close the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria and suspend diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv.
Since that Parliamentary vote and the filing of the genocide case with the ICJ, the atrocities committed by the Israeli regime have only multiplied. There can be no more business as usual and no normal relations with a state that is committing genocide, multiple war crimes, slaughtering children (deliberately with bombs and targeted sniper fire), bombing neighbouring countries, raping and abusing thousands of political prisoners who are held with no charges, enforcing a racist system of apartheid in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories and now also intentionally starving to death the Palestinian population of Gaza.
Israel has killed more United Nations workers in Gaza than in any other conflict in the history of the organisation. More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both world wars. The war crimes committed by Israel include destroying hospitals, clinics, schools and universities. Health workers have been killed, including doctors, nurses, and Red Cross workers, who in almost all previous conflicts have been allowed safe passage to provide life-saving support to injured people from all sides. Israel has blocked food, water and humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza. And then, under the guise of providing “aid”, Israeli Occupation Forces lure hungry Palestinians into shooting allies, where hundreds are being murdered while simply trying to get food in order to stay alive.
Enough is enough. From our history of struggle against apartheid in South Africa, we know how important it is that crimes against humanity are not normalised and that the regimes that commit them must be isolated. Having ended apartheid in South Africa, we cannot continue to cooperate with the Israeli regime that is imposing apartheid in Palestine. As our first democratically elected President, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela stated, “We are not free until Palestine is free”. Let us not be the ones to fail him by letting down Palestine. Let us be the country that respects the call of the Palestinian people, the ICJ and the United Nations General Assembly to end all complicity with the genocidal state of Israel.
President Ramaphosa, Minister Lamola, and the Executive Branch of Government, end all diplomatic ties with apartheid Israel now!
Signed,
[Name and Surname]
References
Parliament votes to cut diplomatic relations with Israel:L https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/national-assembly-adopts-motion-suspend-diplomatic-relations-israel
South Africa brings case of the crime of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice: https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192
World Health Organisation confirms people in Gaza are sick and dying as Israeli blockade continues:
Israeli organisation confirms Israel is committing genocide in Gaza: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-07-28/ty-article/.premium/for-the-first-time-israeli-human-rights-groups-say-israel-is-committing-genocide-in-gaza/00000198-50f1-de88-a9d8-5bf31b1e0000
More UN workers killed in Gaza than any other conflict in its history: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164086#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMore%20than%20one%20in%20every,others%20while%20shielding%20the%20vulnerable.%E2%80%9D
More journalists killed in Gaza than any other conflict: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/2/gaza-war-deadliest-ever-for-journalists-says-report#:~:text=More%20journalists%20have%20been%20killed,report%20published%20on%20Tuesday%20found
UN body says states face defining choice on genocide in Gaza: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/05/end-unfolding-genocide-or-watch-it-end-life-gaza-un-experts-say-states-face
International Court of Justice finds that Israel is implementing an illegal system of apartheid in occupied Palestine: https://www.icj-cij.org/case/186
Until next week, InshaAllah
Zaahied Sallie
Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme
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