WeeklySA_AdminEXPORTS: Two ships carrying South African coal are due to arrive in Israel next week…
By Ihsaan Haffejee
The South African Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is calling for local mining companies, including African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) founded by SA billionaire Patrice Motsepe, to stop selling coal to Israel.
ARM is among several mining companies that supply to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal, which exports coal to Israel. South Africa exported $79-million (R1,5 billion) in coal to Israel in 2023.
Dozens of people picketed outside the offices of Motsepe’s South African mining company African Rainbow Minerals in Johannesburg yesterday, accusing the company of selling coal to Israel.
The demonstration was organised by the South African Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Coalition as part of a global campaign to halt energy flows sustaining Israel’s military. Activists claim that since October 2023, South Africa has exported close to 500 kilotons of coal from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal to Israel’s Port of Hadera.
Trade data shows that in 2023, South Africa exported $238-million (R4,5 billion) worth of goods to Israel. The main product that South Africa exported to Israel was coal briquettes valued at $79-million.
The Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) from which South Africa’s coal is exported is owned by a collection of coal mining companies which includes African Rainbow Minerals amongst other coal mining companies like Anglo, South32 Coal, Exxaro and Glencore.
African Rainbow Minerals has a shareholding in Glencore’s coal operations in South Africa. Last year protesters demonstrated outside the offices of mining giant Glencore calling for the company to stop supplying coal to Israel.
Protestors say the supply of South African coal to Israel was unacceptable in the context of the human rights violations being committed by Israel in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
“On the one hand you have the South African government taking Israel to the ICJ (International Court of Justice) on charges of genocide and on the other hand you have South African mining companies fuelling the genocide by supplying coal to Israel,” said South African BDS Coalition coordinator Roshan Dadoo.
The protestors marched towards the offices of African Rainbow Minerals with Palestinian flags and placards calling for an energy embargo on Israel. Police monitored the protest which was peaceful throughout.
Sunny Morgan, a climate activist and member of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance said that mining companies deliberately obscure the origins of the coal being exported from Richards Bay to escape scrutiny for supplying coal to Israel.
“They tell us the coal all gets lumped together and exported so they don’t know whose coal is going to which destination. But we know companies like Glencore and African Rainbow Minerals supply the Richards Bay Coal Terminal and they also own the terminal. And we know that coal is being exported from there to Israel,” said Morgan.
He encouraged the coal mining companies to put out statements either confirming or denying that they are supplying coal to Israel. “Many of them are silent on the matter which is very suspicious.”Demonstrators said their protest was prompted by the imminent arrival in Israel of two cargo ships filled with South African coal.
Maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic shows that the bulk carrier Algoma Value, sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands, departed Richards Bay on 28 February 2025 and was scheduled to arrive in Israel yesterday. Another bulk carrier, Schinousa, sailing under the flag of Liberia, departed Richards Bay on March 11 2025 and was scheduled to arrive in Israel on April 9 2025.
Imrhan Paruk, an executive for Corporate Development at African Rainbow Minerals addressed protesters outside the offices of the mining company by reading out a statement: “ARM respects the democratic right of BDS and all South African and international organisations to march and express their views or perceptions of ARM’s businesses or business relationships,” Paruk said.
He said that ARM’s minority 23% shareholding in Glencore’s coal operations in South Africa means that Glencore is “responsible for the management, marketing and sales of the coal that is mined by the business and ARM is therefore not involved in the marketing or sales of the coal”.
“ARM is committed to work together with all people from different racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds in South Africa and worldwide and to uphold the human rights of all people as stated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Paruk.
Demonstrators said they were not happy with the response from the company and would continue to pressure mining companies and the South African government to end all coal sales to Israel. – GroundUp
Mirror Briefs
ANC rollout the membership smart cards
The ANC continued its journey of renewal and modernisation with the official rollout of the new membership smart card in Ward 95 (Diepsloot Branch) and Ward 79 (Ivory Park South Branch).
The party’s Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula has been engaging directly with members on the ground as they strengthen organisational systems and bring services closer to communities.
Mbalula explained that the card was the culmination of work undertaken in the ANC’s organisational renewal to address the deterioration of political quality among its members.
The SG explained all membership cards would be printed centrally and delivered to regional offices.
At an additional cost, members may also have the cards delivered to their preferred address.
Mbalula said that roughly 600 000 of the party’s 1.3 million members were in good standing and could order their new cards via the ANC member website.
The remaining 700 000 would have the opportunity to renew their membership through an online portal. – Lehlohonolo Lehana
BOOST FOR SPAZA SHOPS
Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau and the Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Tembisa Ndabeni, will next Tuesday officially launch the R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund, an initiative which was first announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in November 2024.
The fund, which will be jointly administered by the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (SEFDA), provides critical financial and non-financial support to township businesses, including community convenience stores and spaza shops.
The aim of the fund is to support South African owned township community convenience shops, including spaza shops, in order to increase their participation in the townships and rural areas’ retail trade sector.
“The opening of the applications for the fund marks another milestones in government’s efforts to stimulate the growth of the rural and township economy in the country, particularly by providing the necessary support to the convenience stores and spaza shops that are based in the townships and rural areas.
“Government recognises the important role that small businesses, including those operating in the rural areas and townships, can play in creating jobs, growing our economy and alleviating poverty,” Ndabeni said. – SAnews
PRESIDENT CLEARED OF
MISCONDUCT
Public Protector, Kholeka Gcaleka, has cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of improper conduct in connection with using public funds to attend an African National Congress event.
Gcaleka found no conclusive evidence that state resources were directly used to benefit the ANC. The complaint was brought by Democratic Alliance MP, Leon Schreiber, who accused Ramaphosa of leveraging government resources to benefit the Letsema campaign.
He accused Ramaphosa of breaching the Executive Ethics Code when he spoke of the government-driven jobs and skills programme during an ANC campaign. The campaign aimed to renew the ANC’s social contract with voters, getting party members and local volunteers to address challenges in their communities.
The initiative appears to rehash the Letsema campaign launched by former President Thabo Mbeki in 2002. Reading the ANC NEC’s 2002 January 8 statement, Mbeki said the party should encourage people to “be their own liberators, of occupying the frontline in the popular struggle for the reconstruction and development of our country”.
Gcaleka said that by the time Ramaphosa spoke about the programme on 13 April, it had already been launched days earlier by the Gauteng government in collaboration with the Department of Employment and Labour. “The information was already out in the public domain. – Lehlohonolo Lehana.
OMOTOSO RULING
FRUSTRATING
The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, has expressed its disappointment with the acquittal of Timothy Omotoso and his co-accused from 32 serious charges, which included rape and human trafficking.
“While the department respects the independence of the judiciary, a clarion call by the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence, Pillar Number Three (Justice Safety and Protection), emphasises the importance of strengthened capacity within the criminal justice system to address all impunity and effectively respond to femicide and facilitate justice for GBV survivors. “The department stands firmly with both victims and survivors of the prolonged case. The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities acknowledges and recognises the emotional toll and the potential secondary trauma that may be experienced by survivors,” the department said in a statement.
The acquittal of Omotoso served as a judicial turning point for the many women who came forward to testify as both victims and survivors.
The department, together with other sister departments, has called for essential services, including psychosocial support and counselling, to navigate the emotional and psychological impact of these traumatic experiences.
“This ruling will not dampen our fight; it will only fuel our intention to build a South Africa that is safe, just, and empowering for women, youth, and persons with disabilities,” the department said. – SAnews
