Johannesburg - Do as we say, not as we do. This seems to be the stance the South African government is taking on relations with Israel.
While several government officials, such as Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete, came out strongly against Israel last week during Israeli Apartheid Week, Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) director-general Jerry Matjila appeared to have other ideas when he met with his Israeli counterpart, Dr Dore Gold.
According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Matjila and Gold met in Pretoria on Thursday and agreed “that officials from South Africa and Israel will work together on national policy issues such as water, agriculture, trade, and science and technology”.
This seems to contradict Mbete’s views. Speaking at Stellenbosch University on Friday, she said: “It would be fair to say that progress has been slow. The Israeli regime, just like the apartheid regime before it, is obstinate and uncompromising.”
In his ANC January 8 statement, President Jacob Zuma discouraged ANC members from visiting Israel.
“We reiterate that we discourage travel to Israel for ANC leaders, members and representatives, for business and leisure purposes. The ANC encourages our government to continue its programme of talking to all parties in the Palestinian territory and calls on the people of Palestine to work together to bring about self-determination,” he said in his address.
Several ministers, among them Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, and Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister Obed Bapela, have also led campaigns against Israel.
On Sunday, Matjila declined to comment on the meeting. He referred questions to Dirco spokesman Clayson Monyela, who confirmed the meeting.
“We have diplomatic relations with Israel but that doesn't mean we won't support Palestine,” Monyela said. “South Africa has a big Jewish community and even some Christians go to Israel, which they see as holy ground.”
However, the human rights and Palestine solidarity NGO Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel South Africa seemed unimpressed. It called on Dirco to make a public declaration on what exactly the meeting was about.
Israel’s ambassador to South Africa, Arthur Lenk, said that from their understanding of the discussions during last week's meeting, the SA government was interested in taking advantage of Israel’s experience in areas such as water, agriculture and trade, as Israel had managed drought conditions since biblical times.
“Israel is perhaps the world's best expert on water management. There has been drought (in Israel) since the book of Genesis, yet despite always having drought, we don't have water issues because we have programmes such as desalination and recycling,” he stated.
Lenk added: “We don't want to put words in the mouth of the SA government but our understanding was that there can be an exchange of information between experts. It's not shocking because it's what countries do. The more you have interests in common, the more you do (together).”
The Star