Govt prioritises Palestinian embassy over SA House

South Africa continues to pour millions into its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and into funding the Palestinian embassy in South Africa. Yet the doors of its own commissions in Western countries are quietly being closed after years of neglect. 

At the end of last year, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola confirmed that over the past five years, nearly R10 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent to cover the operational costs of the Palestinian embassy in Pretoria. These include everything from food, drink, and entertainment to vehicles and fuel. Lamola was responding to a parliamentary question from Freedom Front Plus leader Dr Corné Mulder. 

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has funded the Palestinian embassy since it opened in 1995. Yet the South African High Commission in the United Kingdom closed without notice last week. 

“This is because its building, South Africa House in London’s Trafalgar Square, has badly deteriorated under the weight of decades of neglect by Dirco,” said Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson on international relations and cooperation, Ryan Smith, on 9 July. 

South Africa House was a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle. 

It is “one of the most iconic diplomatic addresses that any country could possess,” wrote veteran journalist William Saunderson-Meyer, responding to the closure. “We have no diplomatic mission more storied, more cherished, more emblematic of this nation’s international stature and aspirations than South Africa House on Trafalgar Square. For years, it was the site of a non-stop vigil against apartheid, drawing protesters from around the world.” 

Regarding Dirco’s funding of the Palestinian embassy in Pretoria, Saunderson-Meyer says it is “extraordinary” for one country to fund another’s diplomatic mission, “especially when South Africa cannot maintain its own embassies, most critically South Africa House in London, but also the missions in The Hague, Bonn, Paris, Rome, and Shanghai”. 

Smith says South Africa House has been left to deteriorate to the point that staff can no longer work there. Repairs will reportedly cost just under R70 million. “This is money South African taxpayers could have saved had Dirco embarked on regular maintenance of our country’s foreign assets,” he says. 

The DA has long called for a reprioritisation of Dirco spending “to adequately staff a professional diplomatic corps and consular service and maintain our country’s foreign assets as the backbone of a functioning foreign service”. 

Instead, says Smith, Lamola “continues to fund expensive international litigation while siphoning money from the department’s budget to provide millions in humanitarian aid to the African National Congress’s [ANC’s] allies in Cuba”. 

The government has spent more than R130 million on its case against Israel at the ICJ. Travel and accommodation for government officials alone cost approximately R1.9 million for the initial hearings in January 2024. 

“It’s important to highlight the ICJ case as international litigation costs the department tens of millions of rands, money that could otherwise have been used to refurbish embassies, to attract foreign direct investment, and grow the economy,” says Smith. “It shows that the ANC’s priorities lie in using our foreign policy to gain political mileage, rather than serve the national interest of the people of the Republic.” 

Mulder, too, says the closure of South Africa House shows the ANC’s first priority is not the best interests of South Africa and its people. 

He says South Africa House “is one of the most iconic embassies that any country could hope for. This property belongs to South Africa and its people. The ANC, through Dirco, is supposed to be the custodian of this treasure. But like everything the ANC touches, it has let this jewel fall into disrepair.” 

Mulder says the R10 million used to assist the Palestinian embassy could and should have gone towards the upkeep of South Africa House. But the ideological preference “to support rogue entities and states” was more important for the ANC. “This is a total disgrace, and is just another reason why the ANC should be removed from power.” 

The Freedom Front Plus insists that the “money tap” to the Palestinian embassy be shut off immediately, says Mulder. 

South African Zionist Federation national chairperson Craig Pantanowitz says, “South Africans are entitled to ask a simple question: If Dirco cannot maintain its own diplomatic missions, why is it subsidising the running costs of a foreign embassy?” 

He says the government’s first responsibility is to South Africans. “Every rand spent by Dirco should advance South Africa’s national interests, not fund foreign embassies while our own diplomatic assets are left to deteriorate.” 

Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri says South Africa House is not being abandoned, nor has the building been closed because of neglect. The temporary relocation of staff forms part of a “planned programme of work to replace the building’s heating system after it had reached the end of its operational life”. 

Phiri says Dirco remains committed to “ensuring that these properties continue to support the conduct of South Africa’s foreign relations” and will continue to provide updates on major infrastructure projects as they reach milestones. 

He says Dirco is engaging on the renewal of the head lease and the longer-term preservation of South Africa House. “This work will ensure that one of South Africa’s most important diplomatic properties continues to serve future generations, while respecting the legal and heritage obligations applicable to the building.” 

But Smith says, “For as long as Dirco’s spending serves ANC political international alliances, and our foreign policy is used as a mechanism to dog-whistle to the ANC’s friends, South Africa’s foreign service will continue to crumble.” 

Saunderson-Meyer believes this isn’t going to change “until the DA dares to use its leverage within the Government of National Unity to negotiate the ANC away from its self-destructive, blindly pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel, and generally anti-Western stance”.