SOUTH AFRICA: ANGER GROWS OVER FAILURE TO PROSECUTE NATIONALS FIGHTING FOR ISRAEL

Tue 01 April 2025:

Activists allege that authorities have deliberately dragged their feet over prosecutions of individuals believed to have taken part in the war

The South African government is facing mounting criticism from anti-war campaigners over its failure to prosecute nationals who have fought for the Israeli army in Gaza.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign in South Africa (PSC), a secular initiative which seeks to promote the Palestinian cause, told Middle East Eye that it was seeking legal advice against the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), a government body responsible for prosecuting individuals under South African law and to a limited extent on an extra-territorial basis, over a lack of arrests since Israel declared its war on Gaza more than 17 months ago.

“After more than a decade of communications with the South African National Police Service, the Hawks [Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (DCIP)] and the NPA, including mass protests at their Cape Town office and marches to parliament, we have no alternative but to seek legal recourse,” Martin Jansen, the chairperson of the PSC in Cape Town, told MEE.

“We are now preparing for a legal challenge against the NPA which should get off the ground in the next few weeks.”

Since the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, several South Africans are known to have taken part in the devastating war on Gaza, with some openly boasting about their presence in the enclave on social media, whilst others have shared images of themselves committing apparent war crimes.

In one of the most high-profile cases to grip the so-called Rainbow Nation, a South African national from the Western Cape repeatedly shared photos from the enclave, including images where he was standing with his light machine gun amid the bombed-out carcasses of residential buildings.

Prior to deleting his social media accounts, the individual told the South African publication Groundup that he was merely stationed on the border with Lebanon.

The individual never denied serving with the Israeli army, instead saying he was “proud to be here fighting for Jews to be able to live peacefully in their ancient homeland.”

Despite this, the NPA – which is responsible for prosecuting him – told MEE that it was not familiar with the individual or his case, and instead referred further questions to the DCIP.

The DCIP, also known as the ‘Hawks’ is the government agency that provides evidence on serious crimes to the NPA in order for them to carry out prosecutions.

The NPA’s claim that it was “unfamiliar” with his name or case ran contrary to a PSC statement released in November 2024, which said the group had held a meeting with the leadership of both the NPA and the Hawks.

In that meeting, the PSC handed over a list of names of South Africans who it said it knew were serving in the Israeli army.

At the meeting, the Hawks and NPA agreed to a second meeting and said they would issue a joint statement on the matter. Soon after, however, they reportedly reneged on these agreements, according to the PSC.

Jansen said he believed the decision not to take further action and prosecute the national from the Western Cape or other South Africans was “political and deliberate”.

“We have had extensive communications with the Hawks and the NPA, and they make undertakings and promises but never follow up on them,” he said.

“It’s obvious that this case has gone up to the highest levels of both the NPA and the Hawks.”

Authorities dragging their feet

Jansen also lamented why authorities had failed to take action against another South African who was identified in an Al Jazeera documentary as being a member of an elite Israeli sniper unit that killed unarmed civilians in Gaza.

In this case, Jansen questioned why the Hawks hadn’t reached out to Al Jazeera for footage of the film which used geolocation resources and facial-recognition software to identify soldiers.

He also highlighted a PSC complaint against another South African national 10 years ago, who fought in the Israeli army during Israel’s 2014 offensive on Gaza.

Even though there was clear evidence in that individual’s own social media accounts, the NPA claimed this evidence was insufficient but made no effort to obtain required bank records which they could have easily subpoenaed.

“This is not a new phenomenon,” Jansen said. “They are not willing to tackle local Zionists who break the law and violate the constitution.”

Within months of the war on Gaza erupting, South African officials said they would prosecute any national who is found to be fighting for Israel, and later the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said they were tracking down individuals believed to be fighting on the front lines.

In a watershed moment, the State Security Agency (SSA) warned that naturalised citizens, not South Africans by birth, risked being stripped of their citizenship over their participation in the conflict.

But activists have alleged that South African authorities have deliberately dragged their feet amid the failure to prosecute several individuals who are alleged to have taken part in the war.

Ziyaad Patel, a lawyer involved in laying the charge against another South African, who had helped file charges against 59 South Africans suspected of fighting for Israel, told MEE the process was fraught with problems.

Explaining the process of prosecution, he said that with highly specialised crimes such as this, once a complaint is laid at the police station, an ordinary police officer will not be well-equipped to address it.

The case will then be taken over by the NPA which will request further evidence from the Hawks. This is where all the cases currently stand.

‘No more business as usual’

Following Israel’s 2008 offensive in the embattled territory, known as Operation Cast Lead, a team of South African lawyers attempted to prosecute scores of nationals who took part in the fighting which killed more than 14,000 Palestinians.

During the 22 days of fighting, 13 Israelis were killed, including 10 soldiers and three civilians.

Yousha Tayob, the lead lawyer on that case, previously told MEE that there was sufficient evidence against the 73 South Africans who fought for Israel, but no political will from the South African government to prosecute the men.

Patel said the issue has also been raised in parliament since 2023, where several parliamentarians from diverse political parties have asked questions regarding accountability for South Africa soldiers in the Israeli army. The answers thus far have been vague.

According to Jo Bluen, spokesperson for South African Jews for a Free Palestine, the lawsuits have created fear in the local Zionist community.

“The local and international response to the International Court of Justice case and the effort that Zionists are putting into trying to shut it down indicates that they are terrified of the law,” Bluen said.

“We live in an age where we can identify who is criminally responsible for the ongoing Nakba. In a culture of heightened individualism, people do respond to that, whether its the threat of prison or hyper-stigmatisation. But we also operate in a legal system that has its roots in black exploitation, and in that sense there is a sense of guaranteed white impunity.”

Bluen said that that the way in which the law operates when it comes to Israel suggested that certain decision were inherently political.

“At the same time, the huge pro-Palestine rallies and what we see happening on the streets, the naming and shaming of soldiers who are being released back into society, shows people are saying ‘no more business as usual’.”

South Africa has been among the staunchest opponents of the Israeli war on Gaza, and has led a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in the besieged enclave, and requesting provisional measures to end the war.

On 26 January the ICJ issued provisional measures, calling on Israel to refrain from impeding the delivery of aid into Gaza and improve the humanitarian situation. It also ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide in the besieged enclave and to punish incitement to genocide.

By Ilham Rawoot in South Africa

This article is republished from The Middle East Eye. Read the original article.

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