Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri has called for diplomatic pressure and peace negotiations
Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, a spokeswoman for South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party, has condemned Israel’s military actions against Palestinians, accusing the nation of perpetuating violence against women, children, and public infrastructure for decades.
“[The] fact of the matter is that Israel has attacked the people of Palestine, maimed women and children, destroyed the infrastructure, public infrastructure such as hospitals and schools. And they have not just done that [since] October 7, 2023,” Bhengu-Motsiri told RT in an exclusive interview.
“This has been raging for decades, and we’re happy that the international community has now joined us to protest the acts of Israel.”
Referring to increasing global support for Palestine, Bhengu-Motsiri remarked: “It is interesting that, as we speak, both many countries in the Global South, as well as in the Global North, have risen to actually join us in the work that we’re doing, to expose the atrocities and the genocide that is happening in Palestine, and to expose the role of apartheid Israel, including continually declaring Israel as an apartheid state. Israel would deny that it’s committing genocide.”
She said there was growing global opposition to Israel’s actions, citing the recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where several countries staged a walkout during an address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The ANC spokeswoman also mentioned widespread protests across South Africa, where citizens from all walks of life gathered in cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban to show solidarity with Palestine.
Addressing calls to shut down the Israeli embassy in South Africa, Bhengu-Motsiri acknowledged the popular demand for its closure. While she expressed the ANC’s support for the move, she deferred the matter to the South African government, which she said must act within established diplomatic protocols.
The ANC spokeswoman said there was an urgent need for peace, and that the search for peace “must be uppermost in our minds and in the minds of all of our world leaders.” She called for international efforts to push Israel toward the negotiating table, a step that she claims Israel has consistently rejected.
“We will continue to defend the rights of Palestinians and Lebanese people, to defend themselves against the aggression by Israel, which is abetted by the US,” Bhengu-Motsiri concluded.
In September, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office announced plans to file a memorial document with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to provide evidence that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. South Africa filed a case with The Hague-based ICJ back in December, alleging that Israel’s offensive in Gaza following a surprise attack by Hamas on the Jewish state more than 11 months ago is “genocidal in character.”
Israel declared war on Hamas following a series of raids by the Gaza-based militant group last October, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 Israelis. Since then, Israeli military operations have caused nearly 41,000 Palestinian deaths and 95,000 injuries, according to the local health ministry, turning much of Gaza into rubble and rendering it uninhabitable.
