Excerpt from the speech of Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, at the UN General Assembly, 24 September 2024:
Genocide was declared to be a stain on the conscience of the world. And the world community took a stand against it.
Apartheid was declared a crime against humanity and a stain on the conscience of the world. The United Nations took a stand against it.
These were crimes against humanity then, and they are crimes against humanity now...
It has been eleven months since the Hamas attack that killed 1 200 people and where hostages were taken. As South Africa we have condemned this attack.
In response, Israel embarked on collective punishment in its assault on Gaza.
The torment of the people of Gaza continues unabated.
More than 40 000 Palestinians have been killed.
Homes, hospitals and schools lie destroyed.
Famine and disease stalk the streets.
This cannot but shock our collective humanity.
The violence the Palestinian people are being subjected to is a grim continuation of more than half a century of apartheid.
We South Africans know what apartheid looks like.
We lived through it. We suffered and died under it.
We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others.
Through the United Nations and the instruments it wields, we must end this suffering.
We are called uphold the principles of the UN Charter, and to uphold – consistently and in
their entirety – the fundamental tenets of international law.
International law cannot be applied selectively. No one state is more equal than any other.
In December last year, South Africa approached the International Court of Justice seeking
an order to prevent Israel from committing genocide against the people of Gaza.
We did so in terms of our obligations as a State Party to the Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
As South Africa we welcome the support that a number of countries have given to the case
that we launched at the ICJ.
The ICJ’s orders make it clear that that there is a plausible case of genocide against the people of Gaza.
They further make it clear that States must also act to prevent genocide by Israel - and ensure that they are not themselves in violation of the Genocide Convention by aiding or assisting in the commission of genocide.
We reiterate our call for an immediate cease fire, and for the release of all hostages.
The only lasting solution is the establishment of a Palestinian State, existing side by side with Israel with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Our moral conscience further demands that we exert every effort to bring peace to the
Democratic Republic of Congo, to Sudan, to Yemen, to Ukraine and to the troubled Sahel
region.
We must realise the aspirations of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination.
Achieving and maintaining peace and security requires the collective will of the community of
nations.
It requires that the UN Security Council is representative and inclusive.
Seventy--eight years since its formation, the structure of the UN Security Council remains largely unchanged.
Africa and its 1,4 billion people remain excluded from its key decision-making structures.
The Security Council has not fulfilled its mandate to maintain international peace and
security.
The UN Security Council must be reformed as a matter of urgency. It must become more inclusive so that the voices of all nations are heard and considered.
Africa stands ready to play its part in building a safer global order.
The African Union and its member states are engaged in mediation, dialogue, and diplomacy across the continent, to create conditions under which peace and development can take hold.
There must be greater collaboration between the AU and the UN towards resolving these conflicts, and also in addressing their root causes.
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