South Africa’s chances of winning case against Israel seem unlikely – Prof Theo Venter

The South African Government has enlisted top legal experts for its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Their 84-page application argues that they only need to prove some of their accusations against Israel fall under the Genocide Convention to effectively halt its military operations in Gaza. Oral arguments for the proceedings initiated by South Africa against the Israeli government will be presented from January 11-12. However, Prof Theo Venter, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg, told Biznews that he believes it will be a challenging battle. Venter expressed doubt about South Africa’s chances of success at the ICJ. He also accused the South African government of selective neutrality, pointing out an apparent bias in its international relations towards Moscow. Additionally, Prof Venter commented on the crisis in student funding following the leak of a series of recordings by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, alleging corruption within the Higher Education Department and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. He predicted that this issue will significantly complicate the management of students at South African universities. He said if the funding of 70% of students go awry, the fall out will be at the universities, not in Pretoria at the office of Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education.