President Cyril Ramaphosa says they are confident the International Criminal Court will seriously consider the referral by South Africa for charges to be brought against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crimes committed in Gaza.
Ramaphosa said South Africa was part of the ICC, and they want the court to act in line with its statutes.
South Africa, Bolivia, Bangladesh, Djibouti, and the Comoros made the referral to the ICC for Netanyahu and top Israeli officials to be charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan had acknowledged the case brought by South Africa.
Ramaphosa said on Monday that what was unfolding in Gaza was genocide.
He said the ICC has an obligation to charge those who are responsible for the crimes committed in the Palestinian territories.
South Africa has presented documentation to the criminal court, and they expect it to act on the case.
South Africa’s ambassador to The Hague, Vusi Madonsela, personally delivered the referral to the ICC.
Ramaphosa said that since the facts are now before the court, they need to start doing their work and act.
However, they were confident that the ICC would be able to act against the Israeli officials implicated in war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
“Do we have confidence that the ICC will act on what the South African government has decided to do in terms of referring the case that needs to be investigated about the atrocities that are unfolding in the Middle East? We have confidence in the ICC.
“We are part of the ICC, and we would like the ICC to act in accordance with their statutes, rules, and regulations because once a case has been referred to them, they need to take it very seriously.
“South Africa as well as a number of other countries are presenting full documentation to the ICC, and we expect the ICC to commence with its (investigations),” said Ramaphosa.
The government has for the last few weeks been calling for the ICC to arrest Netanyahu and his top brass for the killings in Gaza.
It said the killing of innocent civilians was a violation of international humanitarian law.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics