24 February 2026
South Africa Defends Rape-Denying, Antisemitic UN Rapporteur Condemned by Her Own Country
Johannesburg, South Africa – The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) denounces unequivocally the profound moral failure displayed by Minister Ronald Lamola before the 61st Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday. Rather than uphold justice or human rights, he chose to deploy South Africa’s diplomatic standing in defence of one of the most discredited figures in the international arena, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
That a senior minister would publicly intercede on behalf of an individual whose resignation is being demanded by credible voices globally, including by her own country, Italy, due to her documented record of antisemitic rhetoric, Hamas apologism, and the wilful denial of documented atrocities, including the murder and sexual violence inflicted upon innocent civilians, is not merely embarrassing. It is a national disgrace.
DIRCO has chosen, with disturbing enthusiasm, to align South Africa with distortion, hatred, and the whitewashing of terrorism. The Minister owes this country, and its Jewish community, an immediate retraction and apology. We do not expect one.
Let us be clear. Albanese is not a beleaguered defender of human rights. She is a serial propagandist whose work reads less like impartial UN reporting and more like a catalogue of antisemitic tropes clothed in legal language.
In 2014, she invoked the classic conspiracy of Western governments “subjugated by the Jewish lobby.” In 2024, she amplified claims that the “Israel lobby has bought and paid for Congress” and endorsed comparisons between Israel’s Prime Minister and Adolf Hitler. At what point does Holocaust inversion become disqualifying? Under this government’s moral calculus, apparently never.
Her response to the October 7 massacre, in which Hamas murdered 1,200 people and abducted hundreds, has been equally grotesque. She cast doubt on confirmed reports of sexual violence and dismissed evidence presented by UN bodies. When confronted with evidence of rape in 2025, she responded, “Let’s assume that rape occurred, so?” That a UN official could utter such words is scandalous. That a South African minister would then defend her at the Human Rights Council is unconscionable.
Her record on Hamas is no less troubling. She has justified “resistance,” downplayed and sanitised their vile acts of terror, and described the organisation as a political force that built schools and hospitals. Meanwhile, she has likened Israel to the Nazi regime, described Gaza as a “concentration camp of the 21st century,” and denied the antisemitic character of October 7 itself.
Minister Lamola’s invocation of “understanding as a precursor to peace” rings hollow when it amounts to excusing an organisation responsible for the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. His remarks signal to South Africa’s Jewish community that this government prioritises ideological hostility towards Israel over its constitutional commitment to combat racism and uphold human dignity.
President Cyril Ramaphosa should disavow these remarks and withdraw South Africa’s support for Albanese. Based on his government’s record, however, we do not expect him to do so.
The SAZF calls on member parties of the Government of National Unity to state clearly and unequivocally that Minister Lamola does not speak for them, and that they reject any alignment with those who traffic in antisemitism or apologise for terrorism.
