South Africans Slam Government for Using Taxpayer Funds for ‘Politically Motivated’ Genocide Case Against Israel

Ailin Vilches Arguello

---

Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Zane Dangor and South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela talk at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), at the start of a hearing where South Africa requests new emergency measures over Israel’s operations in Rafah, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman

A leading pro-Israel organization in South Africa has condemned the government’s “appalling misuse of taxpayer funds” to finance what it called a “politically motivated and baseless” case at the UN’s top court accusing the Jewish state of committing genocide in Gaza.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) denounced the government’s latest allocation of R37 million (approximately $2 million) to its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as reported by local media, bringing the total to R132 million (approximately $7 million) used for “ideological grandstanding while South Africa teeters on the brink of collapse.”

“At a time when South Africa is in the grip of an economic and social crisis — unemployment at a catastrophic 35 percent (60 percent among youth), a collapsing health-care system, load-shedding that has crippled the economy, and 2.3 million households without proper housing — this reckless waste is indefensible,” the statement read.

“Schools are in disrepair, crime is rampant, and corruption has bled the country dry — yet instead of addressing these urgent crises, the government is funneling desperately needed public funds into a foreign legal campaign designed to delegitimize Israel’s right to defend itself against those who openly call for its destruction,” SAZF continued.

Since December 2023, South Africa has been pursuing its case at the ICJ accusing Israel of committing “state-led genocide” in its defensive war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli leaders have condemned the case as an “obscene exploitation” of the Genocide Convention, noting that the Jewish state is targeting terrorists who use civilians as human shields in its military campaign.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Jewish community has, like the SAZF, lambasted the case as “grandstanding” rather than actual concern for those killed in the Middle Eastern conflict.

Last year, the ICJ ruled there was “plausibility” to South Africa’s claims that Palestinians had a right to be protected from genocide. However, the top UN court did not make a determination on the merits of South Africa’s allegations, which may take years to go through the judicial process, nor did it call for Israel to halt its military campaign.

Instead, the ICJ issued a more general directive that Israel must make sure it prevents acts of genocide. The ruling also called for the release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the terrorist group’s massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

In its statement, SAZF said that the South Africa government “has deliberately misrepresented this ruling as a victory, using it to justify its ongoing legal assault on Israel while ignoring the reality that Hamas are the true perpetrators of genocide.”

“Rather than recovering looted billions or addressing the suffering of its own citizens, the South African government prioritizes global theatrics, aligning itself with terror groups over the urgent needs of its people,” the statement added.

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the war in Gaza when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

Last month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to “halt foreign aid or assistance” to South Africa partly in response to the country’s ICJ case and anti-Israel stance.

Trump’s executive order puts at risk not only $440 million in aid to South Africa but also tariff-free access to US markets under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, presenting a major challenge for the South African coalition government, which took power last year after the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority in parliament for the first time in South Africa’s post-apartheid democratic history.

In January, Cuba officially became the latest country to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, following Ireland, Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico, Libya, Bolivia, Turkey, the Maldives, Chile, Spain, and “Palestine.”

---

---