‘Horizon of a free Palestine is coming very soon,’ says South African minister

By Hassan Isilow

South Africa’s sports minister Sunday said ahead of the Football for Humanity match between the Palestinian national team and South Africa that he believes a “horizon of a free Palestine is coming very soon.”

“We have no doubt in our mind that a horizon of a free Palestine is coming very soon,” Zizi Kodwa said.

Kodwa said his country is using sport as an instrument to build bridges of peace.

“South Africa has been a good friend of Palestine. We come a long way. The Palestine of today is the South Africa of yesterday. They stood with us at the time of need and we cannot celebrate our freedom alone when there are some people in the world who remain occupied by the colonial Israel state that continues to murder children and unborn babies” Kodwa said.

Meanwhile, the South African presidency said the match symbolizes the historic solidarity between South Africa and Palestine.

“This event symbolizes South Africa's historic solidarity with the people of Palestine in their struggle against illegal occupation and violent excesses by the State of Israel,” President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement.

The Presidency added that the match holds great significance as it is held on the day when South Africa’s first black democratically elected President Nelson Mandela was released from prison after serving 27 years for opposing white minority rule and racial segregation known as apartheid.

In late 2023, South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The UN court, in its interim ruling in January, ruled that South Africa’s claims are plausible. It ordered provisional measures for Israel’s government to desist from genocidal acts, and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.