LETTER | As Africa's voice becomes louder, the world can no longer ignore it

In recent years, Africa's voice on the global geopolitical stage has become so strong and loud that even the major powers are beginning to listen to it. African countries no longer stand on the sidelines but actively promote their own interests and participate in resolving serious international issues.

This was once again proven by South Africa when it filed a lawsuit against Israel on December 29 2023 for violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

According to the statement of the South African representative at the International Court of Justice, Vusi Madonsela, the actions of the Israeli authorities could be characterised as genocide of the Palestinian population, since they were committed with the intent “to destroy Palestinians in Gaza” as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.

Pretoria wanted the court to order Israel to stop the war and pay reparations, a bold political step on the part of SA, which is familiar with all the horrors of apartheid.

Moreover, African countries have repeatedly been subjected to genocide (take, for example, the Herero and Namaqua genocide in 1904-1908 or the Rwandan genocide in 1994) and therefore have an inalienable right to speak out in defence of states faced with this cruel phenomenon.

Western politicians are so caught up in political intrigue and power struggles that they cannot fully understand what the victims of the Middle East conflict are going through, while Africa is well aware of problems such as hunger, lack of medical care and an acute humanitarian crisis.

Despite the risk of aggravating relations between South Africa and states supporting Israel, the country decided to take this step, while Western countries chose to turn a blind eye to the horrors of the conflict.

It turns out that when the need to move from words to deeds arose, Europe hid behind the US, which acts at the behest of the influential internal pro-Israel lobby, while SA, to the surprise of the international community, defended the principles of humanity and global justice.

This once again confirms that the African continent has reached a new level of independence and political influence — and now its opinion cannot be ignored when making the most important international decisions.

Troy Mutinda

Nairobi, Kenya

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