Cape Town - The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has lodged a complaint with the SAPS against a South African currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The PSC lodged two criminal complaints against Benjamin Rattle at the Cape Town Central police station on Thursday.
The PSC, which has been spearheading a large number of protests, solidarity campaigns and educational events throughout the country, called for Rattle’s conduct to be investigated based on regular Instagram posts in which he “boasts about serving in the IDF”.
The PSC said Rattle, believed to be a South African citizen ordinarily living in both Hermanus and Kenilworth, was in contravention of the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act, 2002 and the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act, 1998.
The criminal complaint will also be submitted to the national director of public prosecutions, minister of justice and correctional services, and the minister of police, as well as the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services in Parliament.
It took about two hours for the complaint to be lodged yesterday, a process PSC spokesperson Usuf Chikte called tedious. He was eventually told an inquiry would be conducted and feedback would be given to the PSC.
“The PSC has been busy with this for over 10 years. They have on file more than 70 cases which we’ve submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority, which has refused so far to prosecute … and we haven’t been given a reason for that. They also refused, thus far, to meet with us and this, as you know, undermines the whole judicial system,” Chikte said.
“That is why we are embarking on yet another campaign to ensure that the rule of law is not undermined in South Africa and we are persistently going to continue, once we get hold of evidence, to investigate, prosecute, extradite and call for the reprobation of people who are committing crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
More than 30 000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and over 70 000 injured by the IDF since October 7.
A Change.org petition started by “IDF OFF” identified Rattle and another individual, Jaime Locketz, as South Africans serving in the IDF, called for their extradition, the revoking of their South African citizenship, and prosecution.
The petition to International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor said Locketz was believed to be a member of the IDF’s Operational Situation Desk at the IDF spokesperson’s unit, and Rattle, who is currently on the ground in Gaza, as a member of the IDF’s Golani Brigade from October 2023 to date.
The petition was started on March 12 and has since garnered 1 205 signatures in support.
Pandor has on several occasions warned those serving in the IDF that they would be arrested upon their return to the country.
In terms of the Regulation of the Foreign Military Assistance Act, 1998, any person intending to render foreign military assistance in Israel should first apply to the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, which would then make a recommendation to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans for such an application to be granted or denied.
Individuals who have joined the IDF without the committee’s permission were therefore breaking the law and eligible for prosecution.
On Thursday, a group of pro-Palestine supporters gathered to protest outside the Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation, where the Aliyah Expo was being held.
According to a protest notice, alleged IDF recruitment was part of the expo, as well as real estate offers in Israel.
Executive Director of the Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Daniel Bloch said: “The complaint was lodged by an organisation with a highly politicised agenda, attempting to create division in South African society.
“It is feeding into empty political rhetoric which does nothing to alleviate the suffering of the innocents in Gaza and the Israelis impacted by the war started by Hamas.
“The South African constitution provides remedies for such attempts to bully and harass people so this is effectively just a publicity stunt on the part of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.”