Relations between South Africa and Israel have dropped to rock-bottom after both countries expelled representatives in Pretoria and Tel Aviv on Friday.
Shaun Edward Byneveldt, South Africa’s senior diplomatic representative in Tel Aviv, has been declared persona non grata and has 72 hours to leave Israel. This was announced by Israel’s foreign ministry in a post on X just hours after Pretoria declared Ariel Siedman, Israel’s chargé d’affaires, persona non grata and ordered him to vacate the country by Monday.
“The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has informed the Government of the State of Israel of its decision to declare Mr Ariel Siedman, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Israeli embassy, persona non grata,” said DIRCO spokesman Chrispin Phiri.
The move was necessitated by “violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty,” he explained in a statement released shortly after 13:00.
“These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa and a deliberate failure to inform DIRCO of purported visits by senior Israeli officials,” he added.
In November 2023, Israel recalled its ambassador for “consultations” just as South Africa’s Parliament was due to vote on a motion to downgrade the Israeli embassy. The recall left the embassy in the hands of junior staff and with Siedman out, the mission is now decapitated.
Earlier this week, the embassy caused a stir when it sent Israeli officials to public hospitals in the Eastern Cape province without informing the provincial government. Premier Oscar Mabuyane said the visits were unauthorised and therefore breached protocol.
