President Cyril Ramaphosa says the world should not close its eyes to genocide ever again.
He has written his weekly letter to the nation after attending the 30th commemoration of the Rwanda genocide.
The commemoration took place in the Rwandan capital Kigali at the weekend.
Exactly 30 years ago, approximately one million people were killed within 100 days in what has become known as the Rwandan genocide.
Ramaphosa says the genocide happened because Western powers claimed it was not aware of the extent of the killings.
He says 30 years later, South Africa will not stand by and watch while another genocide is unfolding in the Middle East.
Ramaphosa says, “Nobody can claim ignorance about what is happening in Gaza, because unlike in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the atrocities in the Middle East are being televised and written about for everyone to see.”
He stressed that this is what has prompted his administration to take what is happening in Palestine to the International Court of Justice.
Ramaphosa says never again must the world close its eyes to genocide.
We owe it to the victims of all the world’s genocides to not betray their memories by looking away, by failing to act, or worst of all, by claiming we didn’t know. https://t.co/jSbiZVaL4x pic.twitter.com/ICssIHtf5B
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) April 8, 2024
