In the spotlight of the Olympics, South African leadership attacks Israel rather than deal with problems at home
By Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe
I was astonished to see ANC’s Fikile Mbalula and the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture campaigning against Israel at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This happened just as the media broke an international headline that 95 Libyan nationals were discovered in an illegal, non-state military camp in Mpumalanga, posing a national security threat to the entire SADC region.
On Saturday morning, I woke up to the devastating news that eight innocent people were killed in a tavern in the Kanana township of the North West Province. Isn’t this supposed to be the government’s priority? It is increasingly evident that the current political leadership does not prioritize the security and safety of impoverished South Africans.
It needs to be emphasized that more than 84 people are killed daily in South Africa, a number that may have increased in 2024. Between January and December 2023, the SAPS reported 27,368 murders – an alarming figure that accounts solely for murder.
While there are white victims, the majority are black. The tragic reality is that black-on-black violence is prevalent, with murder hotspots identified in the Western Cape, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces. Political leaders are aware of these dangers, which is why they employ private security for themselves and their properties, leaving the poor to fend for themselves.
South Africans deserve diligent service and constant protection within their country. This has not been the case for many years. People live in fear within their communities, while we claim to address complex issues in Palestine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Ukraine. We are failing to secure our borders, which have always been porous. Many undocumented migrants from other countries pose a national security threat to innocent people.
In fact, terrorism experts have previously warned that terror groups carrying out attacks in Africa are using South Africa as a financial (and training) base for their heinous activities, resulting in numerous deaths. The country is dotted with illegal, unregistered spaza stores (small shops operating from private home, selling food, drinks, cigarettes, etc. to local people, especially in a township) that do not comply with tax regulations, yet the government has ignored warnings that this money is being used to finance terrorism. Jihadist financing is flourishing in South Africa due to the complacency and greed of public servants and politicians.
Furthermore, our very own Department of Health has conceded in parliament that 15,000 children are diagnosed annually with severe acute malnutrition, with 1,000 dying directly from it. And this is happening in a resource-rich nation!!! Severe acute malnutrition is one of the three leading causes of child deaths accounting another 10,000 deaths a year.
Our political leadership must start treating its citizens as equal by prioritizing them and providing dignified public services. As the saying goes, charity begins at home. We cannot claim to fight for social justice globally while failing to protect our citizens from brutal killings that often do not get investigated, leaving victims without justice. We need to take ourselves seriously.
How does the Palestine-Israel matter become South Africa’s priority when we are the world’s most unequal country? Ten percent of the population which is white owns 80% of the country’s wealth but the political leadership is so obsessed with countries that are more than 6,000 miles away from them.
South African politicians have convinced themselves that the Israel-Palestine conflict holds political significance and can garner electoral support. However, this has not proven true, as the ANC lost 17% of its national votes despite making considerable noise about the Middle East conflict.
The Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture should focus on domestic issues. Our youth are struggling with alcohol and drugs, yet the department is more concerned with Palestine. Why not collaborate with communities to rehabilitate lost youth and create arts and rehabilitation programs to reduce substance abuse? South Africans voted for representatives to deliver quality services, not to focus on distant conflicts. While our government criticizes Israel, there are lessons to be learned from Israel’s experience in handling terrorism and surviving amidst constant threats. We should also learn from other countries’ use of diplomacy to resolve issues and avoid unnecessary tensions.
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About the writer:
Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe is a political writer and researcher based at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
