Question doing the rounds is whether meeting the family of a South African citizen serving as an Israeli soldier, as President Ramaphosa did, has undermined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice?

Equally concerning is whether the meeting will now be interpreted by South African mercenaries operating and deployed within the settler colonial regime’s military, as kosher and “permissible” despite legislation that prohibits it.

Equally concerning is whether the meeting will now be interpreted by South African mercenaries operating and deployed within the settler colonial regime’s military, as kosher and “permissible” despite legislation that prohibits it.

Though the official version is that the Perez family had prompted a meeting to thank Ramaphosa for facilitating the release and return of Daniel Peres’s remains, it is silent on who the slain soldier was.

From open source information we learn Daniel Perez was a South African-born tank commander and soldier who in battle with Palestine’s liberation movement Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attempt to break free of Israel’s illegal siege, was killed and taken hostage.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised in Glenhazel before his family moved to Israel in 2014.

The son of Rabbi Doron Perez, the World Mizrachi Executive Chairman, Daniel served as a young officer and tank commander in the Israel Defense Forces.

Surely the highest political office in South Africa, that of the office of the Presidency, is expected to be aware and mindful of laws related to foreign mercenary activities?

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The legal framework governing mercenary activity is The Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act (RFMAA).

This law requires any South African citizen or permanent resident to get prior approval from the National Conventional Arms Control Committee........

© Middle East Monitor