It’s an election year in South Africa, and most political parties campaign mainly on local issues. Just two could be said to “stand with Israel”.

MARY ALEXANDER • 18 MARCH 2024

A viral graphic on social media claims that eight major South African opposition parties – identified by their logos – are “standing with Israel”.*

The parties are:

• The Democratic Alliance (DA)
• ActionSA
• The Patriotic Alliance (PA)
• Vryheidsfront Plus / Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus)
• The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)
• The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)
• The Congress of the People (Cope)
• Build One South Africa (Bosa)

The graphic can also be seen here, here, here and here.

Israel lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East. It’s the world’s only Jewish state. The territory also includes the largely Muslim Palestine, made up of the West Bank west of the Jordan and the Gaza Strip east of the Mediterranean.

Most United Nations countries – 139 of 193 – recognise Palestine as a state.

In December 2023 South Africa’s government – led by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) – took to the World Court to accuse Israel of genocide in its war on Gaza. The war began after the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel from Gaza. Hamas has controlled the strip since 2007.

The Israel-Gaza war has so far killed a reported 31,490 Palestinians in Gaza and forced three-quarters of its population to flee their homes. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed in both territories.

South Africa is set to hold national and provincial elections on 29 May 2024. Opinion polls suggest it could be the most closely run race in 30 years. The ANC may lose the parliamentary majority it has held since South Africa’s first democratic vote, in 1994.

In the 2021 local government elections the ANC won 47.51% of the national vote. Seven of the eight parties in the graphic (except Bosa, established in 2022) won a combined 32.06%.

Do eight South African political parties, seven of them supported by almost a third of the electorate in 2021, say they “stand with Israel”?

Parties’ response to Hamas attack

The graphic first appeared online in the week after the 7 October Hamas attack and has continued to circulate since. In the days after the atttack, only five of the eight parties issued official statements.

Of the five, four –ActionSA, the ACDP, DA and FF Plus – condemned Hamas. ActionSA and the DA also called for peace between Israel and Palestine.

The IFP stopped short of condemnation, only calling on Hamas “to join the peace process”. The ANC’s response was similar, although it also said the attack was “unsurprising” and that it “stands with the people of occupied Palestine”.

The remaining three – the PA, Cope and Bosa – have been vague.

The PA appears to have no stance on the conflict.

Cope has only referred to it three times on X, in nebulous posts that indicate support for South Africa’s genocide charge against Israel. Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota also welcomed the World Court’s ruling that Israel must prevent genocide in Gaza. And in November, the party distanced itself from an official who said Cope “will stand with Israel”.

Bosa’s only reference to the war is a 29 January 2024 statement, posted on X, that a “two-state solution is the pathway to peace in Israel-Palestine conflict”.

The two-state solution

The two-state solution, in its broadest sense, proposes an end to the conflict by recognising the right of both Israel and Palestine to exist between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The idea is that 1967 borders should be recognised, based on UN resolutions 242 and 338.

The solution has been rejected by Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu.

The ANC has repeatedly said it supports the two-state solution “in terms of the 1967 borders”.

The DA’s stance is almost identical, saying it “continues to support a viable and sustainable two-state solution based on United Nations Security Council resolutions 242 and 338”.

In January the party distanced itself from Netanyahu’s declaration that there would be no Palestinian state at the end of the war.

The two-state solution is also supported by the FF Plus (here), the IFP (here and here), ACDP (here) and Bosa (here).

Condemning Hamas for the 7 October attack does not automatically mean a party “stands with Israel”. In fact, South Africa’s ANC-led government itself condemned the attack in its genocide case against Israel.

We found that most of the eight parties have said relatively little, if anything, about the Israel-Gaza war. They’ve said more about local issues.

The only parties that could be considered, by their public statements, to be “standing with Israel” are the FF Plus (here and here) and the ACDP (here).

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Edited version published by Africa Check on 1 March 2024.