ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa briefed the media on Monday following a meeting with pro-Palestine groups. [Picture: Abraar Shaikh/Salaamedia]
The “genocidal onslaught” and “collective punishment” of the people of Palestine was a cause for concern for all, said President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday. He further reiterated the government’s position of support for a two-state solution that would require Palestine to negotiate with the occupiers.
The president briefed the media at Luthuli House, Johannesburg, after meeting with a delegation from the United Ulama Council of South Africa (UUCSA) and South African Friends of Palestine (SAFP). He did so as head of the African National Congress (ANC).
“We used this opportunity to clearly set out the various measures that we have been taking – both as the ANC as well as Government – to deal with the situation unfolding in Gaza, the Middle East, and to reiterate our solidarity with the people of Palestine,” he said.
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Ramaphosa on official stance
Elaborating on the official position of the ruling party and the Government, he said solidarity with the Palestinians was done “not out of political adventurism”, but as “a matter of principle”.
This, he said, was “borne out of our own experience as the people of South Africa who struggled against an oppressive apartheid system, a system that looked upon the majority of South Africans as being worthy of much lesser rights than the White people who were in control of the country”.
He continued, “As we have looked at the suffering of the Palestinians, we have seen similar features of what the Palestinians are going through as what we as South Africans went through. That is why we have said that what is unfolding in Gaza is a genocidal onslaught and slaughter of the people of Palestine.”
Meanwhile, Moulana Ebrahim Bham, secretary-general of the Jamiatul Ulama of South Africa (JUSA), said the body had been reassured “that the position of the African National Congress and the government has been very clearly articulated to the delegation this afternoon”.
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Calls from the delegation
He said the delegation conveyed, among others, to the ANC that the government ought to prioritise the investigation of South Africans joining the Israeli Occupation Force [Israeli Defence Force (IDF)] to participate in the genocide that has now killed more than 20 000 Palestinians since 7 October.
They also urged Ramaphosa to lead the world in slapping economic sanctions on the terrorist apartheid state, again drawing parallels between the struggle for a democratic South Africa and that of the Palestinians’.
“BDS played a very important role in isolating apartheid South Africa. In a similar manner, just as apartheid South Africa was comprehensively isolated, we call upon South Africa to lead the call for the international community to do the same,” he said.
Ramaphosa’s meeting with UUCSA and affiliated bodies came after a previous meeting with the South African Board of Jewish Deputies (SAJBD) and the Zionist Federation of South Africa (ZFSA) last week. In that encounter, he emphasised support for the Palestinians while reiterating the official position calling for a two-state solution.
