Pro-Palestinian posturing while South Africa burns

I was astonished to see the African National Congress (ANC’s) Fikile Mbalula and the department of sport, arts, and culture campaigning against Israel at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This was just as the media broke the international story that 95 Libyan nationals had been discovered at an illegal, non-state military camp in Mpumalanga, posing a national security threat to the entire Southern African Development Community region.

On Saturday morning, I woke up to the devastating news that eight innocent people had been killed in a tavern in the Kanana township of the North West province. Isn’t this supposed to be the government’s priority? It’s increasingly evident that the political leadership doesn’t prioritise the security and safety of impoverished South Africans.

It needs to be emphasised 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 South African Police Service reported 27 368 murders, an alarming figure. And that’s just murders.

Though 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. 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 hasn’t 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’re 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 a private home selling food, drinks, cigarettes, and so on to local people, especially in townships. They don’t comply with tax regulations, yet the government has ignored warnings that some of 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 health department 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 for another 10 000 deaths a year.

Our political leadership must start treating citizens as equal by prioritising 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 don’t 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’re 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 obsessed with countries that are thousands of kilometres away.

South African politicians have convinced themselves that the Israel-Palestine conflict holds political significance and can garner electoral support. However, this hasn’t proven true, as the ANC lost 17% of its national votes in spite of making a considerable noise about the Middle East conflict.

The department of sport, arts, and culture should focus on domestic issues. Our youth are struggling with alcohol and drugs, yet it’s more concerned about Palestine. Why not collaborate with communities to rehabilitate lost youth and create arts and rehabilitation programmes to reduce substance abuse? South Africans voted for representatives to deliver quality services, not to focus on distant conflicts. While our government criticises Israel, there are lessons to be learned from Israel’s experience in handling terrorism and surviving amid constant threats. We should also learn from other countries’ use of diplomacy to resolve issues and avoid unnecessary tension.

Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe is a political writer and researcher based at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Article originally published on layoftheland.online