Naledi Pandor in Indonesia, July 8, 2022. (AP/Dita Alangkara, Pool)
‘If you’re South African and you serve in the IDF, we will arrest you,’ says Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor.
By World Israel News Staff
The Foreign Minister of South Africa announced Saturday that Pretoria will arrest returning South African nationals who have served or are serving in the IDF.
Speaking at an African National Congress meeting, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said that South African citizens serving in the IDF had already received fair warning, referring to a statement put out by her ministry in December.
“I’ve already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and who are fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defense Force; we are ready – when you come home, we will arrest you,” Pandor said Saturday.
In December, the Foreign Ministry issued a stern warning threatening to prosecute South African citizens who serve in the IDF if and when they return to South Africa.
In her comments Saturday, Pandor denied that the move was related to the upcoming elections.
“We didn’t meet the Palestinian people on October 8th, we’ve been together in the struggle for many decades.”
“The people of Palestine trained the freedom fighters of the liberation movement,” Pandor continued.
“This is a relationship of freedom fighters, of activists, of nations that share a history. A history of struggle for justice and freedom.”
The South African government, which has long aligned itself with the Palestinian cause, voted o shutter the country’s embassy in Israel and to cut all diplomatic ties with the Jewish state following the October 7th invasion of Israel.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has accused Israel of “genocide” and recommended that the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate Israel for “crimes against humanity.”
Pretoria also filed a war crimes complaint against Israel with the the International Criminal Court, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Last week, South Africa petitioned the International Court of Justice to impose additional emergency measures against Israel.
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