During this election the SA government is denying the rights of its citizens in Israel
15 May 2024
As voting abroad in the 2024 elections is set to take place on the 17th and 18th of May, the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) objects to the South African government's infringement of the basic constitutional rights of citizens who are in Israel at this time.
The decision by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to suspend services of its embassy in Tel Aviv will materially and adversely affect members of the South African public. The government recalled its diplomats in November 2023 in response to Israel's military defence operation against the terrorist group Hamas, following the Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took more than 240 hostages on 7th October.
Some of the South Africans who will be denied one of their most basic democratic rights include members of the Jewish community and South Africans studying at Israeli universities. The SAZF has informed the Electoral Commission (IEC) and DIRCO of its fears. The IEC has reiterated that it is bound to the directives of DIRCO, who had informed them in January 2024 that the Tel Aviv mission was "temporarily closed due to security concerns". DIRCO and the IEC have failed to inform the public that the temporary closure of the Tel Aviv voting mission would not be lifted in time for this Friday's voting date.
South Africans in Israel are left in a position where they couldn't have made any alternative arrangements to vote elsewhere because the deadline to change one's voting station of choice expired on 22nd April 2024.