South African Ex-Minister Taunts Morocco After Surprise Africa Cup Exit

Mbalula Fikile, a senior member of the ANC, the African National Congress, and former South African Minister of Transport (2010-2017) and Police (2017-2018), expressed his joy at Morocco’s defeat against South Africa in the round of 16 of the CAN Côte d’Ivoire 2023. There are differences of opinion between the two countries, particularly on the Sahara issue. The country of Nelson Mandela has supported the Polisario since 1976, the year Morocco won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time. It has never digested the normalization of diplomatic relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv, while it still defends the Palestinian cause. On Friday, January 26, South Africa also obtained a very favorable verdict for Palestine before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The preliminary decision of the court in the South African case accusing Israel of genocide during its four-month military offensive in Gaza ordered Israel to do everything possible to prevent the death, destruction and any act of genocide against the Palestinians in the territory.

On X, Mbalula Fikile mocked Morocco by sharing the front page of the Israeli newspaper, the Jerusalem Post, which paid tribute to the Moroccan team for its historic run at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. A photo of the Atlas Lions is plastered on the front page with the Al Aqsa Mosque in the background and the title "We are all Moroccans". He then commented on the image in these terms: "When the fascists hate us, it means we are on the right side of history." An Internet user using the Algerian flag as a profile picture writes: "South Africa, which is for Palestine, eliminates Morocco, which has normalized its relations with Israel. That’s beautiful." According to another Internet user, beating Morocco is the "Baraka" brought to the Bafana bafana by the support of their government for Palestine.