Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Zane Dangor and South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela talk at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), at the start of a hearing where South Africa requests new emergency measures over Israel’s operations in Rafah, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman

When South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in effect called for the annihilation of Israel at the African National Congress (ANC)’s closing election rally — by leading a chant of “From the River to the Sea” — it marked a new low in South Africa’s democratic history.

However, this blatant attempt to scapegoat Israel and deflect from the ANC’s catastrophic failures at home, didn’t improve its poor performance in the May 29 elections.

South Africa is besieged by domestic crises — joblessness, collapsing infrastructure, and a murder rate of 81 people per day. Yet, rather than focus on addressing these urgent issues, one of the ANC’s key election tactics was to demonize Israel for defending itself against the terrorist group Hamas. Ramaphosa naively believed this would win votes, declaring “historically, people have been appreciative of the stance taken by the ANC.”

But South Africans weren’t fooled. They voted based on the dire situation at home, not a faraway conflict they know little about. The ANC suffered its worst result ever in the country’s history. Meanwhile, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) party, whose leader Gayton McKenzie bluntly told a rally “Do not tell me about Palestine here … This is not Palestine,” won an impressive 7% in the Western Cape province, almost equal to the 9 percentage points the ANC lost there.

Some analysts wrongly predicted the PA’s pro-Israel stance would doom them. Instead, the PA’s success showed that the ANC is out of touch.

The ANC’s malicious campaign against Israel reached new depths when it took the Jewish State to the International Court of Justice, falsely accusing it of genocide. This egregious charge not only does a grave historical injustice to the actual meaning of genocide — and the millions of victims who suffered under it — but also exposes the ANC’s moral decay.

By exploiting the term “genocide,” the ANC cheapens the memory of the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and other true genocides.

This is nothing more than a despicable attempt to delegitimize Israel by associating it with the most heinous crime imaginable. Such an accusation coming from the ANC, a party once led by moral giants like Nelson Mandela who understood Israel’s right to exist in peace and security, is a disturbing sign of how far it has fallen.

In contrast, McKenzie and other politicians openly stood with Israel on the campaign trail, knowing that millions of South Africans, especially in the largest churches, maintain strong spiritual bonds with the Holy Land.

The Shembe Church, with millions of followers, recently sent leaders to Israel who denounced their own government’s bias, stating, “There is no apartheid in Israel.”

One of the church’s leaders, Inkosi Phakama Shembe, called out the government’s silence on Hamas’ October 7th atrocity, and criticized South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. He noted the ANC’s position is in direct contrast to that of millions of Shembe Church members.

The Democratic Alliance also safely held its majority in the Western Cape, despite warnings that its neutral Israeli-Palestinian stance would cost it votes. This affirms that most South Africans believe in Israel’s right to exist in peace, even if their government shamefully sides with those seeking its annihilation.

As South Africa enters uncharted political territory, its leaders must heed the true will of the people. Scapegoating Israel while the nation crumbles will only hasten its demise. South Africa’s survival depends on courageously confronting its domestic ills while building bridges in a world that increasingly accepts Israel’s permanence and promise.

The ANC’s resort to charges of genocide against Israel only underscores how far it has strayed from its guiding principles and the moral vision of its former leaders. As it faces an uncertain future, the party must reckon with its own ethical decay if it hopes to regain the trust of South Africans and play a constructive role in the nation’s renewal.

Rowan Polovin is the chairman of the South African Zionist Federation.