Interview: Nelson Mandela grandson Zwelivelile comes out in support of South Africa coal embargo on Israel

As Israel intensifies its bombing of Palestinian people, eminent South Africans led by the likes of Chief Zwelivelile Mandela — the indefatigable grandson of former South African president and anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela — are intensifying solidarity activities in support of the people of Gaza calling for a more serious boycott of Israel.

"The Palestinian people and their struggle were always close to Madiba's heart. He considered it the greatest moral issue of our time," Zwelivelile tells The New Arab.

"I have no doubt that the ongoing genocide would pain him very much — the daily sight of mangled and maimed bodies, the cries of orphans, and the lament of parents burying their innocent babies and young children. These are matters that would weigh heavily on his heart," says Zwelivelile.

"I do not doubt that he would call out the cold-hearted apartheid Israel killing machine, its war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing."

Zwelivelile said his grandfather would condemn the complicity of the West for supplying bombs of mass destruction, stating that Mandela would pressure Netanyahu to withdraw from occupied Palestinian land, release all Palestinian political prisoners, accept the right to return for all Palestinians in the diaspora, and most importantly, recognize Palestinians' right to self-determination.

"We all know that ending the occupation and an immediate comprehensive ceasefire is the only path to finding a lasting solution," added Zwelivelile, imploring that the world should boycott all countries and corporations that are complicit in the genocide in Gaza and all the occupied Palestinian territories.

Zwelivelile's sentiments have been echoed by several civic organisations that have called for full boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) of Israeli goods, companies, and institutions of learning, including a coal embargo on Israel which he fully supports.

On August 22, 2024, hundreds of pro-Palestinian organisations, solidarity movements, and trade union activists protested outside Glencore's offices in Johannesburg calling for an energy embargo on the Jewish state.

They claimed that Glencore's coal was fuelling apartheid and genocide in Palestine and the protesters later handed in a petition to management outlining their grievances.

South Africa is the third largest coal supplier to Israel after Colombia and Russia, with South African companies contributing over 500,000 tons of coal to Israel over the past eight months.

Before October 7, Glencore supplied more than 1.5 million tonnes of coal to Israel from mines in Colombia and South Africa.

"We demand a total coal embargo until Israel ends the genocide against the Palestinian people, its illegal occupation, and apartheid regime. As the world witnesses the horror and daily carnage, companies like Glencore are conducting business as usual with the genocidal state," they said in the petition, seen by The New Arab.

In addition to destroying academic and medical facilities, and targeting assassinations of academics, journalists, and medical personnel among others, Israel is also accused of committing ecocide in Gaza.

The protesters said ecocide was being committed by deliberately polluting and poisoning the water in Gaza, allowing water contamination from decaying bodies of people and animals killed, polluting the air and soil directly with their bombing, indirectly with toxic chemicals released from destroyed buildings, and destroying arable land through carpet bombing and other chemicals.

The protesters drew an analogy to how South Africa triumphed over apartheid due to the assistance offered by other countries, which ultimately forced the Boers to the negotiating table.

The petition demanded five things, among them for Glencore to state publicly that none of its coal will be exported to Israel and for the company to cut all business ties with the Zionist state.

Additionally, it called for Glencore to make available internal human rights and ethical impact assessments regarding both the sourcing of coal and its use by the recipient country.

Since international courts confirmed that Israel has committed crimes of genocide and apartheid, the petition urged Glencore to publicly announce the end of all business relationships with Israel and to start preparing to pay reparations for its many years of apartheid profiteering and its predecessors, Xstrata and partners.

"Since 1948, Palestinians have been subjected to ethnic cleansing, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling of 19 July 2024 considers to constitute apartheid and an illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. There is now a legal obligation for all states to end complicity in Israel's illegal occupation, gross violations of human rights, war crimes, and crimes against humanity," the petition added.

"Electricity generated at the Rutenberg and Orot Rabin coal-fired power plants fuels not only Israel's arms industry but also the continuous, relentless bombardment of civilians and infrastructure in Gaza, as well as the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory."

Joseph Chirume is a freelance journalist from Zimbabwe based in South Africa, writing on human rights and immigration issues with a focus on the South African landscape. He has reported for GroundUp News