LETTER: ICJ judgment a disaster for SA

The absorbing, speculative articles by Jonny Steinberg and Tauriq Moosa on possible outcomes and consequences of the International Court of Justice judgment in the SA vs Israel litigation have now been overtaken by the reality of that judgment (“Whatever the ruling in The Hague, SA wins and law loses”, and “ICJ will rule against Israel but ceasefire unlikely, experts say”, January 26).

Despite the grotesque “victory” dance performed gleefully by members of the ANC leadership, the harsh reality is that the judgment is an embarrassing financial and diplomatic disaster for the ANC-led government and our country.

At the beginning of this misguided initiative President Cyril Ramaphosa and foreign minister Naledi Pandor made it clear that they were seeking confirmation of Israeli genocide against the Palestinians and an order for an immediate ceasefire. They got neither, just a wishy-washy instruction to Israel to do “all in its power” to prevent civilian casualties and to write a monthly report; a nothing, vacuous judgment. 

The media, opposition and the SA electorate should be asking the ANC government the cost of this litigation to date, and the budgeted costs going forward. Where are the current and future funds coming from? Is this SA taxpayer money, or are third party funds being used in this futile and inconsequential endeavour to generate support for Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, and pre-election publicity for the ANC? 

The ANC needs to explain how this huge expenditure provides a return to the millions of poor, homeless, unemployed and grant-dependent citizens of our country. We made enemies of erstwhile friends, and are already seeing the consequences. 

David Gant
Kenilworth

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