‘SA diplomat gone rogue’

Despite widespread coverage in the Israeli media over the return of South Africa’s ambassador to Israel, Sisa Ngombane, diplomatic relations between the two nations have not been restored, according to the department of international relations and cooperation.

Meanwhile, a diplomatic note reportedly released by Ngombane suggesting otherwise, has stirred a hornet’s nest, with Mandla Mandela accusing the diplomat of disrespecting his grandfather’s legacy by returning to Israel.

Ngombane was recalled in May after Pretoria expressed outrage over the killing by Israeli security forces of dozens of mostly unarmed Palestinian civilians who were protesting the siege of Gaza, near the border between the coastal enclave and the Jewish state.

The department on Monday said that Ngombane had returned to Tel Aviv to deal with urgent family and personal issues – not to resume his diplomatic duties.

“The South African ambassador is still recalled for consultations and has not resumed his duties as an ambassador for South Africa in Israel,” read the statement. The department added that the conditions that prompted Ngombane’s recall have not changed.

The controversy kicked off with a widely circulated picture of a diplomatic note issued by the South African embassy in Israel – dated September 20 – which suggested Ngombane had returned to Israel to normalise relations between the two countries, the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service reported yesterday.

International Relations Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s announcement in July that Ngombane would not be sent back to Israel and that the state had no intention of appointing a new ambassador to Tel Aviv, was, in effect, the first step in government’s implementation of a resolution passed at the ANC’s December conference, according to Na’eem Jeenah, director of the Afro-Middle East Centre.

That resolution called for the downgrading of the South African embassy in Tel Aviv as a means to pressure Israel to comply with international law and end its occupation of Palestine.

“Last week, Ngombane was allowed to return to Tel Aviv only to attend to personal matters in preparation for his return to South Africa,” Jeenah said.

“He was not mandated to act in an official ambassadorial capacity, nor to resume his previous duties. South Africa has no ambassadorial representation in Israel.

Ronnie Kasrils of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign added his outrage to developments and Ngombane’s diplomatic note.

“If the note was not sanctioned by the ANC and the government, then it means that Ngombane has gone rogue and we expect both his boss, Minister Sisulu, as well as his party to discipline him in the strongest manner possible,” Kasrils said. – ANA