South African Jewish leaders slammed President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday for his use of the genocidal chant on Sunday, “From the river to the sea/Palestine will be free,” which is a call for the elimination of the State of Israel.

Ramaphosa had been speaking at an election rally for the ruling African National Congress (ANC), and reportedly departed from his prepared text to chant the slogan.

Ramaphosa had, in the past, supported similar chants, notably leading leaders of his party in a “Free Palestine” rally just days after the Hamas terror attack of October 7, 2023. Hamas leaders have also visited the ANC, and openly developed closer ties with the ruling party in recent months.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 25: A Palestinian flag is unfurled in front of supporters waiting for the arrival of President of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa during the ANC Siyanqoba Rally held at FNB Stadium on May 25, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africa’s national and provincial elections will be held on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly and provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies, an umbrella group representing the leaders of the country’s dwindling but vocal Jewish community of some 60,000 people, issued a blistering statement against Ramaphosa’s rhetoric:

The SA Jewish Board of Deputies expresses its revulsion at the introduction of a call to exterminate Jews from their Homeland by President Ramaphosa at the ANC final Siyaquoba election rally on Saturday.
The President of the ruling ANC party and the Head of State of a democratic country has called for the elimination of the only Jewish State in the culmination of the ANC President’s election speech made to thousands of ANC members and on National television.

He uses the populist slogan, `From the river to the sea, Palestine will be Free’, which is widely regarded as a call to genocide of the Jewish people. The call to remove all Jews from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea equates to removing all Jews from Israel. The slogan and its call for the destruction of the Jewish State has its origin in the Hamas Charter, with its goal to see Israel as `Judenfrei’ or Jew free.

The chanting of this slogan by a Head of State of a government that recurrently tries to express their commitment to a `Two State Solution’ as their policy on Israel and Palestine is hypocritical to the full. How does a sitting president reject his own government and own party’s international relations policy?

This reconfirms our understanding that President Ramaphosa and his government are not looking for a peaceful solution to the tragic conflict, but rather to cause discord among fellow South African against its Jewish community. The President’s contempt for SA Jewry is evident in this unscripted outburst at the rally which amounts to nothing more than Jew hatred.

The SAJBD is reviewing its options for holding the President accountable for these hateful words.

The ANC has long been pro-Palestinian, but has become more militant in its opposition to Israel in recent years. There is also a significant Muslim voting bloc in the Western Cape province, currently governed by the opposition.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.