Parliament - International Relations Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was seized with the matter of downgrading South Africa's embassy in Tel Aviv, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.
Speaking during his quarterly question-and-answer session in Parliament, Ramaphosa said the government was fully committed to downgrading the embassy despite it being almost 15 months since the governing African National Congress (ANC) adopted the resolution aimed at putting pressure on the Israeli government to agree to the two-state solution to its conflict with Palestinians.
"We are not going to turn back from implementing this decision because it is a matter we need to implement to put pressure on the government of Israel to realise the issue of Palestine needs to be resolved," Ramaphosa said.
"The Palestinians are continuing to live under unacceptable conditions where a number of people are getting killed...
The right for self-determination must now be recognised and South Africa will therefore now be making a clear indicative signal that this is unacceptable."
South Africa supports a two-state solution which will involve separate states for Palestinians and Israelis.