South Africa is preparing for a ‘fallout’, says state security minister

South Africa has beefed up its state security agency and placed it on high alert amid concerns over the possible fallout of the government’s decision to take legal action against Israel to try and bring a halt to its war with Hamas.

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the state security minister, reiterated concerns voiced by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this week that “foreign intelligence agencies” were being used to retaliate against South Africa for filing its lawsuit in the International Court of Justice.

Neither of them named the countries they suspected of being involved.

“There are international misinformation campaigns which are aimed at destabilizing the country,” Ntshavheni said. “ As the security cluster, we are very focused on that work, we are monitoring, and we are strengthening our capacity.”

The ICJ last week ruled that Israel – accused by South Africa of genocide amid its crackdown on Hamas – must act to prevent Palestinians from being killed or injured, but stopped short of demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Israel denied that it was targeting civilians and reaffirmed its right to self-defence when it appeared before the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

South Africa is due to hold an election by August that is gearing up to be the most hotly contested since apartheid rule ended in 1994, with opinion polls showing that the ruling African National Congress risks losing its national majority.

Ramaphosa said foreign agencies could attempt to interfere with the outcome in the hopes of removing his government.

“We continue to support the Independent Electoral Commission to make sure that we do not have a threat of cyber interferences from foreign agencies,” Ntshavenhi said…