South Africa should brace itself for a “possible systematic fightback” over the country taking Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip, President Cyril Ramaphosa has advised his governing African National Congress (ANC).
The ICJ ruled last week that Pretoria’s case against Tel Aviv had merit in that there was evidence of a genocide being committed against the people of Gaza where over 25,000 people, mainly women and children, have been killed since early October 2023.
The deaths have come from daily bombings from the Israeli army of every building and infrastructure in the enclave, reports said.
Addressing the end of an ANC’s national executive committee meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said despite this “fightback” from Israel’s friends, South Africa was fully prepared to see the ICJ case through to its conclusion.
The president, who is also the leader of the ANC, noted the commitment of his country’s legal team involved in the case at the Hague.
He spoke of potential challenges, particularly in the realm of domestic politics and electoral processes as the country headed towards general elections this year.
“Speaking to the lawyers, I found them ready and willing to take this case forward to its final conclusion,” Ramaphosa said.
He added: “The fightback may focus on our domestic politics and our electoral outcomes in order to pursue a regime change agenda here.
