Pretoria - Leaders of five South African universities’ student representative councils want institutions of learning to sever all ties with Israeli linked companies.
On Monday, presidents of SRCs for University of South Africa, Cape Town University of Technology, Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban University of Technology and the University of Western Cape said they were joining the academic and cultural boycott of Israel.
“From here we will be formally writing and approaching the senate as well as councils of our various institutions to implement the academic and cultural boycott of Israel,” president of the Unisa SRC Mduduzi Mabuza read from a statement in Pretoria.
“We will be auditing our universities’ investment funds and service providers to ensure that companies that are in violation of the BDS call, and complicit in the Israeli occupation such as G4S Security, Caterpillar, Veolia, Alstom, Cape Gate etc are excluded from funds and contracts.”
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel (BDS South Africa) movement has been vocal and held several protests against Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Mabuza said their grouping of SRCs was also in talks with other South African universities in a bid to persuade them to adopt similar resolutions.
“Most importantly, our BDS resolution in support of the boycott of Israel follows South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande’s call and support for the academic boycott of apartheid Israel,” said Mabuza.
“Today we join the ranks of SRCs of Wits University and the University of Cape who have resolved to join the academic boycott of Israel in 2012 and 2014 respectively. We also join the revolutionary decision by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) which terminated its relations with Israeli’s Ben Gurion University in 2011.”
Last month, the South African Communist Party (SACP), Cosatu and BDS SA demanded that government expel Israeli ambassador to South Africa Arthur Leno in response to Israel’s denial of a visa to Nzimande.
The organisations vowed that if the department of international relations did not do so, they would stage a protest March to the Israeli embassy on May 15.
“If the department of international relations does not expel the Israeli ambassador in 10 days from now, our progressive organisations will take it upon ourselves to be at the Israeli embassy on the 15th of May to expel the ambassador in a protest march …” read a press statement.
It had emerged that Nzimande, who is also general secretary of SACP, had been denied a visa the day before he was due to leave on a visit aimed at promoting cooperation between the UJ and Palestinian institutions.
On Monday, BDS SA spokesperson Kwata Kekana said the fingered companies were complicit in the perpetual occupation of Palestine.
“G4S Security is responsible for providing services in the torture centres, the detention facilities and the Israeli facilities that house Palestinian political prisoners,” said Kekana.
“In 2007 the broader boycott, divestment and sanctions movement specifically isolated G4S because of its direct complicit in the occupation.”
Comment was not immediately available from the companies.
ANA