President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid homage to over 100 journalists killed in Gaza in Israeli airstrikes since the conflict started in October last year.
Ramaphosa paid tribute to the journalists as a delegation of experienced human rights and international law advocates were preparing for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
One Palestinian journalist in particular, Wael Al Dahdouh, who works for Al Jazeera, has carried on working despite losing his wife and three children. One of his children, Hamza Dahdouh, who was himself a journalist, was killed in a targeted airstrike this week, according to reports.
Over 22,000 Palestinian people, among them over 8,000 children, have been killed since the war began on October 7, when Hamas attacked and killed over 1,200 people in Israel.
Ramaphosa was speaking on Wednesday at the funeral of anti-apartheid activist and photojournalist Dr Peter Magubane, who was buried at the Fourways Memorial Park.
Magubane was renowned photojournalist who used his camera to shine the spotlight on the horrors of the apartheid regime in the racially segregated apartheid South Africa.
“When we look at the world today, we see journalists being arrested, persecuted, and even being killed for doing their work,” said Ramaphosa.
“As we bid farewell to one of our own legendary journalists, I ask that we remember the more than 100 journalists and photographers that have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the people of Gaza.”
South Africa filed an official complaint against Israel at the ICJ on December 29, accusing Israel of genocidal actions intended to destroy a substantial part of the Palestinian population.
"Indeed, bearing witness to the truth is a revolutionary act. Standing firm for justice is what must define our humanity, and that is what must define our own nationality,” said Ramaphosa.
“Our opposition has driven us to approach the ICJ as a people who once tasted the bitter effect of dispossession, removal, and state-sponsored violence. We are clear that we will stand on the right side of history.”