Per South Africa, a siege in Gaza is illegal. A siege in South Africa — per same South Africa — is a different matter entirely

By Lev Tsitrin

“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out.”

Guess who said it in advocating cutting off water and food to thousands? Was it some “right-wing” Israeli minister after October 7, 2023 promising to blockade Gaza strip until every hostage taken by Hamas has been returned?

It was a reasonable guess — but is not even close. The person quoted is one Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a minister in South African government who is an ardent and vocal Israel-basher, having instigated South Africa’s anti-Israel legal action in International Court of Justice accusing Israelis of post-October 7 “genocide” of Gaza Palestinians, and demanding arrest of Netanyahu

But Gaza, in the eye of Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, is one thing — and South Africa is another. Gazans should not suffer pangs of hunger for their criminal actions — but not the four thousand impoverished South Africans in an abandoned mine, who hoped to eke out existence for their families by mining there.

They should be deprived of food and water until they come out and stop plundering South Africa’s natural resources, per Khumbudzo Ntshavheni — as reported by CNN.

You just can’t make this up. To South African government, a siege cannot be imposed on Hamas’ criminal regime. Not to feed Hamasers and their supporters who are guilty as sin, having brutally killed, raped, and kidnapped Israelis on October 7 so they release the hostages would, to Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, be tantamount to “genocide.” To block water and food to thousands of South African workers in abandoned South African mine is, to the same Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a mere act of justice — and a prudent measure to protect South Africa’s income.

How can one be so hyper-high-minded — and utterly unjust — when it comes to Israel, yet pettily cruel in enforcing justice at home, treating human lives — be they Israeli hostages or South African miners — as cheaper than minerals, is beyond me.

Yet here we have it, cruel justice towards her own, and cruel injustice for those abroad combined in one person — South Africa’s minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a poster child for Orwellian double-speak, political hypocrisy — and moral depravity.