South Africa’s Crusade Against Israel: Hypocrisy and Dangerous Alliances

While South Africa accuses Israel of genocide and apartheid, it ignores far worse atrocities across Africa and embraces alliances with Hamas and its backers, exposing a foreign policy driven more by ideology than principle.

In recent years, South Africa has positioned itself as a global moral compass, taking Israel to the International Court of Justice over alleged genocide in Gaza and frequently accusing the Jewish state of apartheid. These accusations echo loudly on the world stage, yet they raise a critical question: What moral authority does South Africa currently hold?

While South Africa points a finger at Israel, the country itself is facing a myriad of crises. Blackouts plague the economy due to rampant mismanagement at Eskom. Crime, corruption, and racial tensions are rising. The issue of land expropriation without compensation continues to fuel fears among the country’s white minority, with international concern even being raised by U.S. President Donald Trump, who warned of violence against white farmers. While the ANC dismissed the allegations as exaggerated, the underlying tension is undeniable. South Africa is far from the harmonious, post-apartheid success story it once aspired to be.

Yet in spite of these internal challenges, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has chosen to spend considerable diplomatic energy on demonising Israel. At the ICJ, South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, all while ignoring the role of Hamas, a recognised terrorist organisation, in instigating the conflict by launching attacks and hiding behind civilians. The ANC’s narrative omits the fact that Hamas uses schools, hospitals, and mosques as launchpads and shields, turning their own people into victims in a war they initiated.

What makes this legal action particularly revealing is that South Africa has never brought any other genocide case to the ICJ, despite being a state party to the Genocide Convention since 1998. Africa has witnessed horrific atrocities over the past three decades, from the 1994 Rwandan genocide to the ethnic cleansing in Darfur, South Sudan, and the Tigray region of Ethiopia. In each of these cases, South Africa did not file charges at the ICJ or even join proceedings initiated by other nations. When Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir visited South Africa in 2015 while under an ICC arrest warrant for genocide, the ANC government refused to arrest him and allowed him to leave the country, in direct violation of international law.

There is also the case of Namibia, where the Herero and Nama genocide committed by German colonial forces in the early 20th century has been acknowledged by Germany. Still, South Africa has not pursued any legal action or international condemnation over it. Equally absent is South Africa’s voice in the face of mass killings and displacement in the Democratic Republic of Congo or the ongoing atrocities across the Sahel region. These omissions expose the selective nature of its moral outrage. If genocide truly concerns the South African government, then why has it consistently looked the other way when it occurs closer to home?

What is even more troubling is South Africa’s growing entanglement with groups and regimes aligned with radical Islamist ideologies. In October 2023, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor made a direct call to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. While the government claimed this was solely about humanitarian aid and denied any formal relationship, the optics of a high-level government minister speaking directly to the head of a terrorist group were alarming. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office attempted to downplay the situation, stating South Africa recognises the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. But the damage was done. The ANC had once again aligned itself rhetorically and diplomatically with actors that openly seek Israel’s destruction.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. In December 2023, a Hamas delegation visited South Africa and met with top ANC officials, including Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula. This occurred despite Hamas’s bloody attacks on Israeli civilians just weeks prior. Photos and reports of the meetings showed nothing but smiles and handshakes, as if these were partners in peace rather than representatives of an armed jihadist movement. Hamas officials such as Bassem Na’im and Khaled Qaddoumi were welcomed by segments of South African leadership with troubling enthusiasm. While the government claimed no knowledge of the meetings, the ANC’s cozy relationship with Hamas’s top brass paints a different picture.

Then there is the connection to Qatar, the tiny Gulf nation that plays host to Hamas leadership and funnels hundreds of millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip. President Ramaphosa’s recent visit to Doha, where discussions reportedly included ceasefire proposals and cooperation on humanitarian efforts, further deepens the ambiguity. Qatar is not a neutral player in the conflict. Its government has long acted as Hamas’s banker and political patron. South Africa’s warm relations with Doha, raise questions about whether Pretoria’s anti-Israel stance is being influenced by Qatar’s strategic and ideological interests.

Since President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to Qatar, what has notably expanded is Qatar’s investment footprint. In late 2023, Ramaphosa visited Doha, securing trade and infrastructure agreements. Qatar energy entered joint ventures in South Africa’s offshore gas exploration, and Qatar Airways acquired a 25% stake in regional airline Airline. These developments suggest that while Doha has not explicitly rewarded Pretoria through its stance on Israel, the growing strategic and economic relationship indicates a convergence of interests that may include shared diplomatic alignment. 

South Africa’s relationship with Islamist networks doesn’t stop there. Some ANC-aligned figures, including controversial former Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, have publicly defended Hamas’s violent resistance as “legitimate.” Civil society movements sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates have found a platform in South Africa’s pro-Palestinian discourse. This convergence of ideological solidarity, strategic alliances, and diplomatic theatre undermines the country’s claims to neutrality and moral concern for human rights.

This is not to say that Israel’s policies are above criticism. Civilian suffering in Gaza is real and tragic, and legitimate concerns about proportionality and military conduct deserve to be raised. But South Africa’s framing of the issue lacks balance and intellectual honesty. By casting Israel as a genocidal apartheid state while excusing or ignoring the war crimes and totalitarian aims of Hamas, South Africa is not championing justice. It is choosing sides in a deeply complex conflict and siding with those who openly call for the elimination of Jews and the state of Israel.

Meanwhile, back home, South Africans are contending with systemic failures in governance. Power cuts, economic stagnation, high unemployment, and social unrest define the daily reality for millions. Race relations remain tense, and accusations of preferential policies and reverse discrimination are increasingly common. While the ANC government champions Palestinian rights abroad, many of its own citizens feel abandoned and voiceless.

South Africa has every right to advocate for human rights globally. But to do so credibly, it must also confront the contradictions in its own foreign policy and domestic governance. Moral authority is not earned through performance at international courts. It is demonstrated through consistency, accountability, and the courage to speak against all forms of injustice, including those committed by allies or ideological kin. 

If South Africa truly cares about peace in the Middle East, it must advocate for a two-state solution that guarantees security for both Israelis and Palestinians. It must condemn terrorism and incitement as clearly as it condemns military excess. And it must stop offering legitimacy to movements like Hamas that seek not peace but permanent war.

Only then can South Africa reclaim its reputation as a global leader in justice, not a pawn in someone else’s ideological game.