The key facts

  • Pandor called on the UN ICJ to hold public hearings on the merits of the genocide case and to strengthen provisional measures
  • South Africa filed additional materials on August 25 alleging Israel's non-compliance with three provisional measures orders
  • Pandor said the US excluded South Africa from the AGOA renewal, with benefits ending on January 1, 2027

Call for Open Hearings

Former South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor called on the UN International Court of Justice to hold public hearings on the merits of her country's case against Israel and to strengthen provisional measures protecting the residents of Gaza. 'We would like the case to be heard so that the world can make a judgment on whether our assertion of an ongoing genocide stands up to legal scrutiny,' she said in an interview with Anadolu on the sidelines of the TRT World Forum.

Status of the Case at the Court

The case was filed by South Africa in December 2023, when Pandor was head of the Foreign Ministry (2019–2024). The UN ICJ has already considered the question of provisional measures to protect Palestinians, but has not yet ruled on whether Israel violated the Genocide Convention. Hearings on the merits have not yet been scheduled: South Africa must submit further written arguments by November 22, 2027, and Israel by May 22, 2029. Pandor also urged the court to strengthen the interim orders obliging Israel to prevent acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention and to ensure urgent humanitarian assistance to the residents of Gaza. On August 25, South Africa submitted materials to the court asserting that Israel had failed to comply with three provisional measures orders; according to Pandor, she would like to see 'stronger measures' in response to this recent filing.

Pressure and Relations with the US

Pandor said that after the case was filed she received additional security while serving in government and continues to face personal attacks in media outlets critical of her position: 'I am called all sorts of names — as if I am at the Hamas headquarters in South Africa, as if I am an instrument of Iran.' She called such attacks 'the last refuge of a scoundrel.'

Loss of AGOA Preferences

Touching on relations with Washington, Pandor said they had deteriorated under President Donald Trump, and reported that the US had excluded South Africa from the renewal of benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to the US market. 'We have lost them. President Trump struck us off the renewal last week. We are out of the program,' she said. The benefits cease to apply from January 1, 2027. Pandor expressed cautious optimism about the new composition of Congress after the Democrats' victories in the November midterm elections and called on Washington to change its role in the Palestinian question.

Non-Alignment and BRICS

Pandor defended South Africa's non-aligned foreign policy, based, in her words, on human rights, peace and justice rather than loyalty to competing powers. She sees BRICS as a tool for strengthening the sovereignty of Global South countries and cited the New Development Bank as an example of financing the developing countries' own priorities. On Iran, she confirmed the course toward resolving disputes through diplomacy, noting that Pretoria condemned the Israeli and US attacks on Iran as well as Iran's strikes on countries in the region.