Two South African Women Revealed Among Hamas Hostages, Israel Advocates Slam Pretoria Government’s Inaction

Two South African women are among the more than 200 hostages seized by Hamas during the pogrom unleashed by its terrorists in southern Israel on Oct. 7, The Algemeiner can reveal.

The two women — aged 62 and 79, both of them Jewish — were abducted from two separate kibbutzim.

The 62-year-old was seized in the attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Lying on the border with the Gaza Strip, the kibbutz was home to 400 residents prior to the Hamas massacre, in which up to 100 of them were murdered, including several children. The 79-year-old was taken during the attack on nearby Kibbutz Nirim, where Hamas terrorists fired indiscriminately at residents while setting homes alight.

The names of the two South African women have not been released at the request of their families.

Pro-Israel advocates in South Africa on Thursday slammed the South African government for its silence on the two hostages. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been vociferous in its support of the Palestinians, with President Cyril Ramaphosa comparing Hamas’ war on Israel with his own country’s struggle against apartheid during an address to a summit meeting in Cairo last weekend.

In a statement, Bafana Modise — national spokesperson for South African Friends of Israel — noted that South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor had “called the Hamas terrorist organization, immediately after their unspeakable atrocities and hostage taking, to express her solidarity and support.” Pandor’s interlocutor was Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas who is based in Qatar. According to South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), the purpose of the call was to discuss “how to get the necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza and other parts of the Palestinian Territories.”

“If Minister Pandor and [DIRCO] are truly interested in peace, they should now step in speedily and play an active role in securing the release of the South African hostages, alongside all the others,” Modise emphasized. “Pandor appears to have a direct line to Hamas, and instead of offering support and solidarity, should be prioritizing the urgent release of those held against their will in Gaza.”

He called on the government in Pretoria “to do everything in its power to emancipate the South African and other hostages, as well as unequivocally condemn the heinous Hamas atrocities that led to the worst single attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

Ramaphosa’s speech in Cairo caused significant disquiet among South African Jews. “As South Africans, we can relate to what is happening to Palestinians,” Ramaphosa said, claiming that in the struggle against the “nightmare of apartheid,” they too “were subjected to untold suffering just like the Palestinians are going through.”

In an open letter to Ramaphosa published in the Sunday Times, the South African Board of Jewish Deputies accused the president of “betrayal” and cited the traumatic historical echoes induced by the Hamas atrocities.

“We are not asking for special privileges, Mr. President, we are just asking to be seen for what we are: South Africans deserving of the same respect and consideration as that accorded to their fellow citizens,” the letter stated. “In our time of greatest need, you have ignored us. You have no inkling of the depth of pain and trauma we are feeling, of the palpable sense of betrayal.”

The letter concluded by asking, “Are we once again, as has been the recurring narrative for the last 2,000 years, somehow less than other human beings?”

Ramaphosa’s office has denied that the government supports Hamas. “We do not have a bilateral relationship with Hamas,” Vincent Magwenya, the president’s spokesperson, insisted last week. “Support for the Palestinian struggle against occupation does not equate to support for Hamas.”

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