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100 signatures reached
To: Minister Parks Tau, Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition, and the Honourable Mzwandile Masina, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition
Petition to Parliament: Act Against Apartheid Israel! Stop Fuelling Oppression!
Act Against Apartheid Israel!
We, concerned South Africans, call on Parliament to act decisively against apartheid Israel by ending coal and strategic exports.
We call on Paliament to impose sanctions, support a UN anti-apartheid committee, and enforce South African law against unlawful participation in the Israeli army.
We uphold South Africa’s historic commitment to justice, liberation, and international solidarity.
This online petition runs alongside a physical petition, which has collected more than 1,200 signatures as of 25 February 2026. Both online and physical petitions will be submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly. [1]
We, concerned South Africans, call on Parliament to act decisively against apartheid Israel by ending coal and strategic exports.
We call on Paliament to impose sanctions, support a UN anti-apartheid committee, and enforce South African law against unlawful participation in the Israeli army.
We uphold South Africa’s historic commitment to justice, liberation, and international solidarity.
This online petition runs alongside a physical petition, which has collected more than 1,200 signatures as of 25 February 2026. Both online and physical petitions will be submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly. [1]
Why is this important?
- We support South Africa’s commitment to human rights, international solidarity, and the struggle against oppression everywhere.
- South Africans know from our own history that international pressure, sanctions, and global solidarity are not symbolic gestures. They are powerful tools that can help end injustice.
- In 2024, Colombia took a principled and courageous decision to immediately end exports of coal to Israel [2][3]. This action cut off approximately 40% of Israel’s coal supply, directly impacting the energy resources that sustain Israel’s assault on Gaza—an assault which many legal experts, human rights organisations, and states have recognised as genocide.
- However, when Colombia acted in solidarity with the Palestinian people, South Africa-based coal exporters rapidly increased their shipments to Israel, effectively replacing Colombia as a supplier [4]. In doing so, these exporters undermine international efforts to isolate Israel. They materially enable the ongoing devastation of Gaza.
- South Africa showed moral leadership by taking Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the IDF’s attacks on civilians in Gaza. We are proud of this principled action, which reflected the values of our Constitution and our historic commitment to ending oppression. Yet our leadership is undermined when South Africa’s resources are used to sustain the same violence we condemn.
- We cannot condemn oppression while we enable it through trade. We cannot undermine global solidarity against Israel’s systematic and continued destruction of life in Palestine.
- We call for urgent discussion and concrete action to achieve:
- The immediate end to trade in South Africa’s natural resources to Israel, especially where such trade aids Israel’s military capacities.
- The implementation of appropriate sanctions against apartheid Israel, consistent with South Africa’s constitutional values and its obligations under international law.
- Active support for the re-establishment of an anti-apartheid committee at the United Nations, drawing on the historic precedent that helped isolate apartheid in South Africa.
- The full and consistent application of South African law to citizens who serve without authorisation in Israel’s army.
- These measures must be accompanied by strong domestic leadership. We call on the government to take proactive steps to protect jobs and livelihoods as trade patterns change, including through export diversification, import substitution, industrial planning, and direct state support.
- We believe these steps are necessary to align South Africa’s actions with its stated commitments to human rights, justice, and liberation.
We hereby petition Minister Parks Tau, Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition, and the Honourable Mzwandile Masina, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition, to take forward this submission and to engage meaningfully with its proposals in order to uphold South Africa’s commitments to human rights and international solidarity.
References
1. Petitions to Parliament. https://www.parliament.gov.za/petitions
2. South Africa boosts coal exports to Israel after Colombia by Sudarshan Varadhan, Wendell Roelf and Steven Scheer for Reuters, 16 December 2025. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africa-boosts-coal-exports-israel-after-colombia-ban-2025-12-16/
3. Coal and South Africa's complicity in the genocide in Gaza by Imraam Bucus for Mail & Guardian, 25 June 2025. https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/2025-06-25-coal-and-south-africas-complicity-in-the-genocide-in-gaza/
4. SA is now Israel’s largest coal supplier, following Colombia’s ban by Ethan van Diemen for News24, 18 December 2025. https://www.news24.com/business/climate-future/energy/sa-is-now-israels-largest-coal-supplier-following-colombias-ban-20251218-0818
Image credit to Seena Mavaddat.
How it will be delivered
The petition will be delivered to the Speaker of the National Assembly, as a petition under the National Assembly Rules. It will then be presented to Minister Parks Tau (Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition) and the Honourable Mzwandile Masina (Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition).