NICOLA MILTZ
Experts say that SONA is not the usual platform to discuss the Middle East conflict, but the topic popped up during debate, albeit fleetingly, and was swiftly dealt with by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The president responded to members of parliament (MPs) on 14 February, after questions were raised in a two-day debate on his state of the nation address speech on 7 February.
In his response, he said, “Solidarity needs to extend beyond our borders. Those who have been freed from the chains of oppression, those who live in conditions of liberty and democracy, have a responsibility to those who struggle against occupation, discrimination, and repression.
“Our support for the struggle of the Palestinian people is not merely a product of history, it is a refusal to accept that a people should be continually denied the right of self-determination in violation of international law.”
And that was it. Short and sweet.
Steven Gruzd, an analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs, told the SA Jewish Report that it was not unusual for there to be little mention of Israel in SONA, and that “perhaps Ramaphosa’s hand was forced by a question that mentioned Palestine”.
Interestingly, he said the ANC election manifesto made little mention of Israel or the Palestinians, other than the downgrade of the South African embassy in Israel.
SONA is not really a foreign policy platform, Gruzd said. “I don’t think the ANC’s position has changed from what it has said for many, many years, which is to support a two-state solution and a peaceful solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. In reality, South Africa has become a meaningless player in that, and the peace talks have ground to a halt, but SONA is not generally a showcase for foreign policy.
“It is an election year. Ramaphosa seems not to want to scratch this scab unless forced into it,” said Gruzd.
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP and Shadow Minister of Labour, Michael Bagraim, told the SA Jewish Report that Ramaphosa had spent very little time on the matter. “It tells me that a rational president doesn’t see Israel as an issue, I don’t believe it is an issue in this president’s book.”
He did, however, mention that it was under Ramaphosa’s watch that the debate on the downgrade of the SA Embassy in Israel was allowed to hit the floor of the national assembly.
“He is the first president who allowed the debate to go forward to parliament. Zuma and past presidents kept it off the order paper.”
Ramaphosa went on to say that the nation would be going to the polls in just less than three months, and cautioned that “we need to avoid utterances or actions that divide South Africans”.
“As political parties and as leaders, we must desist from statements that demean or insult or offend other races, other languages, other religions or other groups,” he said.
“We equally share a responsibility to work together to build a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it. In these difficult and trying times, we share a responsibility to work together for the people of this country.”
