The South African Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Coalition says Patriotic Alliance (PA) leaders Gayton McKenzie and Kenny Kunene are “endorsing and legitimising a state practising the crime against humanity of apartheid” by visiting Israel.
McKenzie and Kunene said they were visiting Israel to gain insight into how the country has managed to run its coalition government for decades, and to learn about water and wastewater treatment.
South African BDS Coalition co-ordinator Roshan Dadoo however said the PA and its supporters were “reproducing the disingenuous claims of Israeli propaganda” for its management of water resources and other technological innovations.
“In reality, the Israeli water system systematically attacks Palestinians’ rights to water and sanitation, actively endangers the health of Palestinians, and holds the Palestinian economy captive to corporations who exploit water for profit,“ Dadoo said.
“The PA has revealed itself yet again as a party of racism, xenophobia, brutality and exclusion.
“These reactionary ideologues undermine the struggle for a just and equitable society in South Africa, Palestine and globally, contradicting the values of freedom and justice for which many in this country have given their lives,“ he said.
PA national spokesperson Steve Motale however said they noted the statement by the organisation, calling it an “attack” on the party leadership.
“Their attack on the leadership of the Patriotic Alliance shows that our decision to visit Israel was indeed a correct one.
The Israelis didn’t judge us, instead, they welcomed us, including President Isaac Herzog.
How sad it is that instead of engaging us, these hypocrites chose insults, and to play the man instead of the ball,” he said.
Motale said the party leadership decided to engage with leaders who have experience in managing coalition politics as he said the party would form part of the ruling coalition in 2024.
He added that they were planning to visit other coalition-led countries, including Finland, Germany and Denmark next.
African Radical Economic Transformation Alliance president Carl Niehaus said the trip was an “opportunistic and unacceptable act that cannot be justified”.
Cape Times