Johannesburg- The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) on Friday came out in support of former Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng after he apologised for the comments he made in 2020 regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict and SA’s foreign policy.
The Judicial Conduct Committee’s (JCC) in 2020 found that Mogoeng who was still at the helm of the judiciary at the time was guilty of involving himself in political controversy over South Africa’s policy on Israel.
Mogoeng in June 2020 told a webinar that he was under an obligation as a Christian “to love Israel, to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, which actually means the peace of Israel”.
The statement saw a massive backlash against him as he was seen to infringe in the terrain of the executive arm of the state. The South African government has a pro-Palestinian policy and Mogoeng was seen to have undermined that policy.
Amid a backlash following the comments, a defiant Mogoeng at the time said: “Even if 50-million people were to march every day for 10 years for me to do so, I would not apologise.”
He then appealed the JCC’s decision which ordered him to apologise for his pro-Israel statement.
However, the Judicial Conduct Appeals Committee (JCAC) last month upheld the JCC’s decision which ordered Mogoeng to tender an apology and gave him 10 days to do so – which he did on Thursday.
“I, Mogoeng Mogoeng, the former Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa, hereby apologise unconditionally for becoming involved in political controversy through my utterances at the online seminar (webinar) hosted by the Jerusalem Post on 23 June 2020, in which I participated,” Mogoeng wrote in a statement.
“Did I say I will under no circumstances apologise? No,” he added.
“I am now forced by the law – the order of the lawfully constituted Appeal Panel of the Judicial Conduct Committee – to apologise unconditionally in terms of the prescribed apology. And because I am not above the law, I hereby apologise as ordered,” he said.
Rolene Marks, the spokesperson of the SAZF, said it was unfortunate that Mogoeng was forced to apologise.
“The former Chief Justice should never have been censured for his comments on the Jerusalem Post panel discussion (the centre of this controversy), which were seized on and politicised by antisemitic factions. The SAZF condemns the coordinated and sustained attack by the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement on the former Chief Justice,” Marks said.
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