Ramaphosa confident SA has solid case before ICJ to prove genocide is happening in Gaza
President Cyril Ramaphosa told Parliament that government’s crack legal team was in the process of compiling a court memorial, due in October, that’s nearing 500 pages.
This general view shows the logo of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on 12 January 2024, prior to the hearing of the genocide case against Israel, brought by South Africa. Picture: Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP
CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was confident South Africa had a solid case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prove that genocide has happened and continues to be waged against Palestinians in Gaza.
He told Parliament that government’s crack legal team was in the process of compiling a court memorial, due in October, that’s nearing 500 pages.
Posing his first question to the president since taking up the leadership of the MK Party in Parliament, John Hlophe wanted to know what government was doing to ensure interim measures ordered by the International Court of Justice court so far were implemented in Gaza.
Ramaphosa said that the support South Africa had received from several nations and the court orders it’s achieved so far in this case, proved the naysayers wrong about its prospects of success.
He said this was a historic case that demonstrated South Africa’s empathy and compassion for the people of Palestine.
"All this is being done to not only support the people of Palestine, but to ensure that we live up to our own values and principles of respect for human rights and for justice."
He said the memorial being prepared by the country’s top legal minds included photographic and video evidence that genocide has been unfolding in the occupied territory of Gaza.
Government, he said, would continue to push for an independent Palestinian state to exist harmoniously side-by-side with Israel.