Cape Town, South Africa – “We cannot allow supporters of baby killers to talk to us,” shouted an irate resident of Surrey Estate, Cape Town, as he heckled the speaker on the podium.
The man was among hundreds of residents of the predominantly Muslim suburb who gathered for a pre-election roundtable in early May, during which representatives from 10 political parties sought support.
When Riad Davids, the representative of the Democratic Alliance (DA) – South Africa’s main liberal and centrist opposition party seen as a strong supporter of Israel – took to the podium to make his speech to residents, he was booed.
The audience shouted and jeered, preventing him from delivering his message and seeking to force him off the stage.
The South African government’s support for Palestine has become a recurring theme in debates leading up to the May 29 general elections and expressions of solidarity with the people of Gaza have been voiced during the campaigns of various political parties.
The ruling center-left African National Congress (ANC), which has historic ties to Palestine, has publicly condemned human rights violations under Israeli occupation and taken Israel to the International Court of Justice. Justice (ICJ), accusing him of genocide in his war against Gaza. .
The official opposition DA, however, did not support the government’s decision to take Israel to the ICJ and has been criticized by some for its stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the war began in October.
Although the DA has historically shown support for Israel, it claims its position is one of neutrality.
“The DA stands in solidarity with both Palestinians and Israelis who seek a two-state solution. The DA opposes radicalism and violence. We reject any sentiment aimed at annihilating Israel or Palestine. We adhere to a rationality based on peaceful coexistence for a secure Israel and a free Palestinian state. We defend the right of Palestinians and Israelis to statehood and sovereignty,” the party said in a statement following the October 7 attacks.
In the Western Cape province, where the DA has governed for the past 15 years, the party has enjoyed support from working-class, Muslim-majority areas like Surrey Estate.
But in this case, community contempt was acceptable, as angry residents insisted the DA was complicit in glorifying genocide in Gaza.
“It’s sad that in a Muslim area, where we have a Muslim audience, you would want to deny someone the opportunity to speak,” Davids pleaded with the audience.
As he persisted, the crowd grew angrier and angrier with loud chants of “free and free Palestine” echoing through the community hall. Two Palestinian flags were waved each time the crowd heckled him.
“The ANC stands in solidarity with Palestine”
As angry residents of Surrey Estate vented their frustration at the DA representative, a few kilometers away in the suburb of Rylands, another predominantly Muslim working-class suburb of Cape Town, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed residents during of a public meeting.
There, the president arrived wearing a keffiyeh and maintained an unapologetic stance on the ANC’s support for the Palestinian people.
Ramaphosa said his government would consider visa waivers to make it easier for Palestinians to travel to South Africa.
“We will make an exception so that our brothers and sisters from Palestine can come here, not only as refugees but for various reasons,” he said to applause.
During the question and answer session with the president, ANC MP and grandson of former President Nelson Mandela, Mandla Mandela, asked Ramaphosa why local authorities did not arrest the South Africans found fighting in the Israeli army. The president promised that his government would act.
The community’s fervent support for Palestine was also on full display, with many in the crowd wearing Palestinian colors as they listened to Ramaphosa woo them.
“The ANC stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” read the banners on stage behind the president.
It was not an unusual sight. The ANC has always expressed its solidarity with Palestine during electoral campaigns.
Last weekend, the ruling party and government representatives also participated in the first World Conference Against Apartheid for Palestine, held in Johannesburg, which aimed to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the people Palestinian.
At the event, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor reiterated the government’s view that Israel perpetuates apartheid against the Palestinians and called for tougher action against it.
“There can never be peace if the Palestinian people are not free… We should be ashamed that 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza,” she told the conference attended by representatives of the government and activists.
A few days earlier, during a national May Day rally commemorating Workers’ Day, the ANC had organized a march in Cape Town in solidarity with the Palestinians.
“As workers, you must join this fight to defend those who are oppressed around the world. And today, in South Africa, we stood up for the rights of those in other parts of the world who are currently being subjected to torture, violence and genocide,” Ramaphosa implored the country’s workers.
“And that is why, as a country and yes, as an alliance, we have remained steadfast in our support for the Palestinian people. And that’s why we say ‘we want Palestine to be free,’” he said to applause.
“This is not Palestine”
The ANC has long compared Israel’s policies against the Palestinians to the apartheid regime’s brutal actions against black South Africans before democracy in 1994.
However, some have suggested, more cynically, that the party is exploiting the issue more this time around to help it win support from certain groups of voters.
Although the ANC may benefit electorally from its support for Palestine, its position on the issue is consistent, an analyst told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Imraan Buccus, an academic and researcher at the Auwal Institute of Socio-Economic Research, said the ANC’s vocal support for Palestine was a principled stance and part of the historic solidarity between the two countries’ liberation movements .
“The ANC is not opportunistically trying to use the genocide in Palestine to get votes.
“It’s an irresponsible narrative,” he added.
However, Herman Mashaba, an opposition leader from ActionSA – a right-wing political party – disagreed, saying the ANC was hypocritical and its attempts to focus on Gaza were distracting from the myriad of problems facing South Africa.
“The ANC’s motivations do not concern the Palestinian people. This is about diverting attention from the problems facing South Africa,” he said, noting that more than 80 people are killed every day in South Africa, one of the most violent in the world.
“It doesn’t make any sense. If I look at the energy they (bring) on domestic issues versus the energy they have on international issues, it doesn’t match.”
Regarding ActionSA’s position on Palestine, Mashaba said that while calling for a solution to the conflict, he believed South Africa should not focus its attention on international crises while its own house “was on fire “.
This sentiment was expressed by another opposition party leader, Gayton McKenzie, who leads the Patriotic Alliance (PA), described by analysts as a right-wing populist party.
He angered Cape Town residents at another election town hall when he brought up South Africa’s crime rate when asked about his support for Palestine.
“Hey, our children are dying more than in Palestine. Don’t talk to me about Palestine here. Go to Palestine; this is not Palestine,” he declared, sparking public anger.
McKenzie has wholeheartedly supported Israel and has been quoted on social media as saying, “My Bible commands me to stand with Israel, my Bible tells me that if you curse Israel, you curse yourself.” I will listen to the Bible.
The far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party and former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party have openly supported Palestine, while the right-wing Inkatha Freedom Party ( IFP) remained neutral on the issue.
A small Muslim-oriented party, Al Jama-ah, which has a seat in Parliament, focused its electoral campaign on its support for Palestine.
Analyst Buccus said that in previous elections, South Africa’s foreign policy had not determined voting trends.
However, this election was different given the ongoing “genocide” in Gaza.
“It will definitely have an impact on this election,” he said, adding that working-class Muslim voters in Cape Town and other areas who often voted with pride for DA may now rethink their support.