South African lawmakers visit Israel in rebuke to ANC

A group of 15 South African parliamentarians, including members of the national unity government, visited Israel this week in a show of faith-based support for the Jewish state and a rebuke of the Mideast policy of the ruling African National Congress.

The parliamentary visit follows the formation of a national unity government in South Africa last June, after the ANC lost its absolute majority for the first time since the end of apartheid 30 years ago.

The delegation, which included members of two parties in the government of national unity and a Christian opposition party, as well as Christian and Jewish faith leaders, met with Israeli lawmakers and visited southern Israeli communities targeted in the Hamas-led massacre 18 months ago that triggered the current war.

“The ANC does not speak for everyone,” MP Ashley Sauls, whose Patriotic Alliance party is a member of the South African government, told JNS during an event at the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem on Monday. “We support Israel and believe that Hamas is a terrorist organization which must be annihilated so that there is peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.”

He added: “We can say that Israel is not an Apartheid state and there is no genocide going on in Gaza.”

The ANC, which has spearheaded South Africa’s anti-Israel foreign policy, won only 40% of the vote in last May’s election, forcing it to form a national unity government.

Some lawmakers in the delegation from another party in the unity government pointedly declined to comment on their trip due to the sensitivity of the visit.

MP Steven Swart, a member of the opposition African Christian Democrat Party, which has long been pro-Israel, said, “We were hoping that with the government of national unity the anti-Israel voices in South Africa would be more muted as there are a lot of political parties that have a pro-Israel stance, but we don’t see that change yet, and they are continuing with the court case at the International Court of Justice. But being here in a time of war is also [meant] to distance themselves from the ICJ court case and the anti-Israel sentiment.”

Positive portent?

Organizers of the visit voiced hope that it was a harbinger of change.

“I truly believe that we can transform South Africa by creating an alliance between Christians, Jews and Israel,” said Daniel Yakcobi, director of South African Friends of Israel, which set up the visit.

“This delegation is a sign of the change of the future,” said South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who participated in the visit along with two pastors from the rainbow nation.

The rabbi, who delivered the keynote address at the event at the Friends of Zion Museum, has been critical of the ANC government in the wake of its reaction to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion, opined that the days of ANC rule are numbered.

“Do not judge the people of South Africa by the ANC,” he said. “The ANC does not own the country.”

Goldstein praised the legislators on the delegation for their leadership in making the trip and for standing up for their principles and faith.

“Today it may take courage but tomorrow it will be the path of the country,” he said.