Around 100 people descended on Houghton, arriving in buses and minibus taxis. A short stretch of Central Street was partly cordoned off. A large plastic banner hung over a truck emblazoned: “Jesus is coming back quickly. Are you ready? The Messiah Boat Ministries.”

This was the scene outside the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF), where a protest unfolded a day before the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) announced the expulsion of Israel’s diplomat to South Africa, Ariel Seidman.

As I approached the crowd, I asked a small group what the protest was about. “It is about Israel,” a young woman said. She then pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket, glanced at it, and added: “Naledi Pandor is using the Nelson Mandela Foundation to drive out the Israeli embassy, and we are going to push her back.” Did anyone tell you to say that, I asked. She replied that it was her pastor.

Nearby, a group of young men lingered. They had travelled from Orange Farm and believed they were coming to watch a show. Are you part of the church, I asked. “No,” one replied. “Some guys in the township said it would be fun. Transport was free. So we came.”

The protest bore all the hallmarks of a rent-a-crowd mobilisation, steered by SA Friends of Israel (SAFI), which instigated the protest against the NMF on its Facebook page. SAFI has actively sought to draw Christian Zionist churches into its orbit. This included sponsoring trips to Israel and funding selected programmes. 

Although Naledi Pandor had nothing to do with the diplomat’s expulsion, she has remained a lightning rod since her tenure as Dirco minister, when South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2023. As chair of the NMF, she continued Nelson Mandela’s historic support for Palestinian independence.  

As the genocide in Gaza escalated last year, the NMF invited UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese to deliver the Nelson Mandela Lecture. Albanese drew large audiences and was received with warmth reminiscent of Mandela’s own public appearances. This infuriated the pro-Israel lobby. 

Attacks on Pandor intensified during this time. She was labelled a jihadist. An AI-generated image depicting her face as a frog circulated on X. Some Zionist donors threatened to withdraw funding from the NMF. Albanese took a hit too. She learned while en route to South Africa that the United States had sanctioned her and blocked her bank accounts — a move celebrated by pro-Israel networks.

While the expulsion of Israel’s diplomat might have been a catalyst for the protest, it was clear that the SA Zionist Federation (SAZF) was ticked off for some time. Pandor was attending an event in the Hague when the protesters handed a memorandum to the NMF. Its contents resembled some of Chief Rabbi Goldstein’s subsequent rhetoric on social media. 

The one-page memorandum said Pandor’s invitation to Albanese was a betrayal of Mandela’s legacy. It called Albanese an antisemite and criticised Pandor for spearheading what it called “baseless genocide claims” at the ICJ. It accused Pandor of weaponising the NMF against Christian Zionists.

SA’s policies on secularism and “progressive agendas, were targeted too, because they supposedly opposed Zionist Christian values – the language used mirrored MAGA in the US. The demand for Pandor to be fired came with a threat – unless she went, the people would rise en masse “to protect Madiba’s legacy.”

Goldstein came out guns blazing on social media, calling the diplomat’s expulsion “State Capture 2.0” and a warning that “President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government will be cursed, the ANC will be cursed, and they will bring a curse to the people of the Eastern Cape”.  He was referring to Israeli representatives who pledged water infrastructure and hospital support in parts of the Eastern Cape, which on the surface looked great, until one understood their real motive – distraction from the horror in Gaza. 

Israel had cut off the water supply in Gaza, destroyed hospitals and infrastructure, and restricted humanitarian access, causing starvation. Despite a supposed ceasefire claims, the humanitarian crisis remains dire.

Goldstein went further. The ICJ case has nothing to do with human rights but was part of an Iranian proxy strategy, while SA’s foreign policy on Israel was misguided. His remarks triggered backlash on social media, including from Jewish South Africans who said he did not represent their views. 

Last year, journalist Anton Harber clearly exposed Goldstein’s contradictions. “If he is so opposed to the expropriation of land without compensation, why does he not apply this to the ongoing confiscation of Palestinian land and destruction of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. How can he presume to speak on behalf of black SA land rights when he does not care for Palestinian land rights?” 

These contradictions have come to define the SAZF and allied organisations. However, these defenders of Israel show no sign of retreat. They have increasingly focused on building alliances with black churches in townships and rural areas to influence South Africa’s foreign policy — a policy which Rabbi Goldstein claims has been captured. 

What is ultimately at stake is not only foreign policy, but historical memory. The contest over Mandela’s legacy has become a proxy battleground in the Israel-Palestine debate. Yet Mandela’s own record consistently emphasised Palestinian freedom, human rights, and international solidarity, saying “South Africa will not be free until Palestine is free”. 

Attempts to appropriate that legacy for narrow political ends risk distorting the very principles Mandela championed. If anything, Mandela would have wholeheartedly embraced Albanese, who shared his values and fighting spirit. 

* Shareen Singh is a Johannesburg-based freelance writer and social activist. Her work included communications for Tito Mboweni in South Africa’s first democratic government.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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