Al-Qalam 
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - AUGUST 22: People holding banners and Palestinian flags gather outside the office of Glencore, demanding the company stop selling coal to Israel due to Gaza war on August 22, 2024, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu via Getty Images)
By Ismail Suder
As Israel continues to kill, maim and displace Palestinians, South Africa will join hundreds of thousands of people globally to mark Nakba Day next Friday with major protests demanding justice and a homeland for the Palestinian people.
In KwaZulu-Natal, a large group of activists are mobilising to travel to Richards Bay on Nakba Day (May 15) to protest outside the Richards Bay Coal Terminal “to draw attention to the ever-increasing amount of South African coal being shipped to Israel to help fuel the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
“Nakba” refers to the catastrophic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their land in 1948 to make way for the creation of the Israeli entity.
Global Sumud South Africa, together with the South African Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Coalition and other major Palestinian Solidarity Organisations (PSOs), is part of a major campaign in Richards Bay. The Richards Bay action will be accompanied by a number of other actions, which will be launched throughout the country.
Yesh Govender, who is part of the Global Sumud (SA) Steering Committee, told Al-Qalam that “Nakba Day is a day that is weighted with harsh memories, memories that have been carried through to this current day. “It is not a day that can be commemorated with mere platitudes or kind messages. It is a day that should be commemorated with some form of concrete action to further the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.
“The campaign is directed to draw attention to the ever-increasing amount of South African coal being shipped through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal to Israel to help fuel the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. The campaign will include a town hall discussion on 15th May including members of the Energy Embargo Campaign, the Global Sumud SA’s Steering Committee, the Richards Bay community, trade union representatives, climate justice and Palestine solidarity activists. We hope to lay the foundation for a broad-based movement focused on preventing mining companies, such as Glencore and African Rainbow Minerals, from exporting South African coal to Israel.
“We are undertaking this action in the knowledge that true pressure on the Israeli entity can only be exerted through sustained civilian protest actions, trade embargoes, sanctions and boycotts. Silence is complicity and every purchase of a boycott target simply serves to strengthen the Zionists.
“The participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla, including the South African delegation currently waiting to set sail for Gaza, are aware of this campaign and the potential to disrupt more than 80% of Israel’s coal supply.
“The campaign is fully endorsed at an international level, and the Flotilla participants will be amplifying the message supporting an energy embargo against Israel. This takes the coal embargo campaign to an international level.
He said the Richards Bay campaign will take place over 15/16th May.
Govender added: “We are putting in place travel arrangements between Durban, Johannesburg and Richards Bay. The campaign will also secure accommodation for those who might need to stay in Richards Bay for the duration of the weekend. All those wishing to participate will need to complete a digital registration form, and people are urged to contact the SA BDS Coalition, Global Sumud SA, Palestine Solidarity Alliance and South Africa Palestine Movement to secure the registration form. Emailed confirmation of registration and further details will be sent to all those who submit the forms.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, the SA BDS met with Parks Tau, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), to raise its concerns about the export of SA coal that is “powering the Israeli Occupation Forces.”
Roshan Dadoo, representing the coalition, said afterwards that the meeting was “constructive,” noting, however, that while the Minister expressed support for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), he was unable to take a position on a coal embargo, but emphasised his willingness “to continue open and ongoing engagement.”
