EFF appalled at South African citizens participating in the genocide of Palestinians
16 October 2024
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is appalled that South African citizens are participating in the genocide of Palestinians without any consequences. Aaron Bayhack, a 22 year old South African, is identified as having been a sniper in the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), in the Al Jazeera documentary "The Ghost Unit".
Bayhack is reportedly part of a brutal team that targets unarmed civilians with live ammunition in and around hospitals under siege in Gaza. These indiscriminate attacks include the wounded, men, women, and children—firing mercilessly at those already suffering in a genocide and humanitarian crisis.
Palestine has been under Israeli occupation for over 76 years, enduring an ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing campaign that has intensified over the past year. More than 100,000 Palestinians have been killed, with many still unaccounted for. Israel has waged war through relentless bombings, starvation, and the systematic destruction of homes, schools, and hospitals.
Snipers like Bayhack are used to mercilessly target civilians, carrying out horrific acts with impunity. The IOF have also been responsible for brutal sexual assaults on Palestinian prisoners, raids on homes, theft, and the extreme torture of men, women, and children—all of which they perform with sickening joy, as shown in multiple videos.
In terms of the Regulation of the Foreign Military Assistance Act, 1998 (Act No. 15 of 1998), any person wishing to render foreign military assistance in Israel must first apply to the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) who will make a recommendation to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans that such an application be granted or refused.
The EFF will, therefore, determine whether Bayhack served in the IOF with permission from the Department of Defence and if not, why he has not been prosecuted and stripped of citizenship as stated would happen by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Naledi Pandor. If Bayhack had clearance, it would be an even more grave contravention of domestic and international law, and our foreign policy with regard to Palestine and the ongoing genocide.
We cannot, as a country, feel safe when fellow citizens who have no qualms about killing other human beings, have documented their crimes and continue to live among us without any consequences. South Africa is already a very violent country. Today, it's Palestinians, tomorrow it shall be a South African for being a woman, black, Muslim, wearing a keffiyeh or picking an orange from someone's yard, and then the President will make statements telling the country that he is 'shocked' and yet do nothing to protect us from these genocidaires.
The EFF has approached the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Department of Defence and will ensure that this matter is investigated and if need be, will ensure that the perpetrator is prosecuted. Any person joining the IOF is breaking the law and must be prosecuted.
Issued by Leigh-Ann Mathys, National Spokesperson, EFF, 16 October 2024
