Ramaphosa slammed for targeting Israel amid SA’s murder crisis: ‘Victims could fill FNB stadium’ – André Pienaar

In a recent Foreign Policy article, President Cyril Ramaphosa and co-authors condemned Israel’s military actions in Gaza, citing the estimated deaths of 61,000 Palestinians as violations of international law and calling for collective action to end impunity. However, André Pienaar, founder and CEO of C5 Capital and former founding member of South Africa’s Scorpions unit, criticised Ramaphosa’s stance as hypocritical in an interview with Biznews. Pienaar argued that Ramaphosa has failed to address South Africa’s soaring murder rates, pointing out that the victims under his presidency could overflow the 94,736-seat FNB Stadium. He emphasised that the president has a constitutional duty to protect citizens from crime, highlighting daily murders, kidnappings, and low prosecution rates as constitutional failures. Defending Israel’s actions in Gaza as self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Pienaar urged South Africans to strengthen ties with Israel. He also announced a private initiative to foster connections between South Africans and Israelis and to create a digital museum honouring victims of violent crime in South Africa.