Following the end of the Gaza war and the peace pact secured by the United States (US) and Arab states earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the National Council of Provinces that the deal: “will have no bearing on the case that is before the International Court of Justice [ICJ]” and that South Africa will continue to press that case to have Israel found guilty of genocide.

South Africa led the genocide charge against Israel after the events of 7 October 2023 that triggered the Gaza war. Earlier this year it helped found the Hague Group together with Malaysia, Namibia, Colombia, Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, and Senegal to further press the genocide case.

South Africa was excluded from attending the final signing of the peace pact at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt earlier this week, as it was viewed as an unreliable actor backing Iran and Hamas, who viewed the pact as a strategic defeat rather than a deal to be celebrated.

While President Ramaphosa was speaking, South Africa’s deputy minister of international relations, Alvin Botes, took Ramaphosa’s line, telling a meeting in Malaysia: “The situation in Gaza is perhaps one of the starkest illustrations of the lack of political will to ensure the implementation of international law. It is not that we are operating in a lacuna. International law aimed at the protection of civilians and the provision of humanitarian assistance exists. What is lacking is its implementation and accountability for non-compliance with obligations.”

He told the meeting: “We, as the global community cannot pick and choose which binding orders to abide by and which to set aside or simply ignore. Therefore, the decision by the government of South Africa to institute an application against Israel before the ICJ, alleging that Israel was responsible for violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza, was done with a view to fulfilling our legal obligations as a state party to the Convention to prevent genocide.”

According to the deputy minister: “We have chosen to be on the side of the global majority that has rejected these horrific actions. Our case was initially rejected in some quarters as populist, blood libel, meritless and baseless.”

However, Botes cited a range of global research reports to argue that Israel should be pursued for genocide, saying: “This has overwhelmingly been reaffirmed by many member states, senior UN experts, regional organisations and international NGOs. This includes Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Israeli and Palestinian NGOs such as B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, amongst others. And most recently by the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

South Africa’s renewed commitment to pursue Israel for genocide comes at the same time as its trade negotiators are trying to secure a tariff deal and even an investment pact with their American counterparts. The Common Sense has previously reported that the Americans are frustrated at what they see as foot dragging and delays on the part of the South Africans. A specific condition set by the Americans to secure a trade deal is that South Africa takes a less partisan stance on Israel.

Frans Cronje told The Common Sense that: “the statements made by the South Africans following the signing of the peace pact will certainly raise eyebrows in Washington and complicate efforts at securing a tariff deal, while likely placing a broader US trade and investment pact out of reach for the time being.”