Thousands of people marched through the Cape Town CBD on Saturday, 5 October in support of Palestine and the isolation of Israel. A memorandum handed to chairperson of the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on International Relations Supra Mahumapelo called for the implementation of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.

Listen to this article 8 min Listen to this article 8 min The handover of the memorandum calling for South Africa to isolate Israel through the enactment of sanctions and boycotts was the culmination of the march led by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

Mahumapelo assured the protesters that National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza would receive the memorandum and give feedback on its demands.

"We know that this is a struggle not only of the people of South Africa. We know as Parliament that we don't exist by ourselves but we exist on behalf of the people. We are an instrument of democracy that must be used by the people to advance the cause of the revolution," he said.

The march came almost a year after the 7 October 2023 Hamas assault on Israel that killed 1,200 people. Since then, Israeli forces have killed about 41,802 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestine Ministry of Health in Gaza. The conflict has been described by many activists in South Africa and other countries as a genocide against the Palestinians.

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