By Zukile Majova
President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the team that presented South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands on Thursday.
“I have never been so proud to see (Justice Minister) Ronald Lamola, a son of this province, standing there in that court introducing our case,” said Ramaphosa in Mpumalanga where the ANC is celebrating its 112th birthday.
He was echoing the sentiments of many middle class South Africans who expressed their pride as the country’s best legal minds outlined their case at the ICJ.
South Africa has accused Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahou, of committing genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza.
South Africans on various social media platforms said win or lose, the nation should be proud to have made a compelling case for the ICJ to schedule such a hearing.
The South African legal team included John Dugard, Adila Hassim, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, Max Du Plessis, Tshidiso Ramogale, Sarah Pudifin-Jones, Lerato Zikalala, Vaughan Lowe and Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh.
Lamola said the case will make a big difference on the ground in Gaza where over 23,000 people have been killed in just three months.
“It will make a lot of difference because the state of Israel will be held to account by the international community. The soldiers know and the authorities in Israel know that if they continue, they may one day be called individually before the ICC and be held accountable,” said Lamola.
Lamola rejected accusations that the South African government was doing Hamas’s dirty work.
“We are not presenting any case on behalf of Hamas. So that statement is baseless and has no merit. We do not have any mandate from Hamas.
“Our case is not against the Jews as a people. Our case is against the actions of the state of Israel, the actions of genocide that are committed in Gaza.
“In South Africa we have a number of Jewish people doing business and living with us and they also attend their churches in peace,” said Lamola.
If South Africa wins the case, the court will order Israel to stop its war in Gaza immediately. However, there is no guarantee that Israel will listen to such an order.
Pictured above: The South African legal team.
Image source: X
