MEDIA STATEMENT BY NKOSI ZMD MANDELA :THE NAME MANDELA IS SYNONYMOUS WITH STANDING WITH THE OPPRESSED OF THE WORLD

The late President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela devoted his entire life to the struggle for justice and peace. Revered worldwide for his principled stand on human right and dignity, he stood unequivocally with the oppressed people of the world and was unapologetic in his stance that the Palestinian struggle is “the greatest moral issue of our time”.

During a 1995 visit to Gaza, Nelson Mandela pledged on behalf of the African National Congress of South Africa, and all freedom‑loving peoples that “our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people.” Madiba’s historic stance has been reinforced by South Africa’s courageous actions before the International Criminal Court(ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where the ICJ has now issued a clear position on the genocide in Gaza.

A United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. After a two‑year investigation covering events from 7 October 2023 onward, the commission identified that Israel was guilty of four of the five genocidal acts as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The report documents a systematic pattern of mass killings, a total siege that starves civilians, the destruction of health and education infrastructure, widespread sexual and gender‑based violence, targeted attacks on children, and assaults on religious and cultural sites. Statements from Israeli civilian and military leaders were judged and used as direct evidence of genocidal intent, satisfying the commissions “only reasonable inference” standard.

The UN Independent Commissions’  chair Navi  Pillay warned that “Israel has flagrantly disregarded the orders for provisional measures from the International Court of Justice and warnings from Member States, UN offices, human rights organisations and civil society groups, and continued the strategy of destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza,”. “The Commission finds that the Israeli authorities had no intention to change their course of actions. On the contrary, Israeli authorities have persisted and continued with their genocidal campaign in Gaza for almost two years now. Israel must immediately end the genocide in Gaza and comply fully with the orders for provisional measures of the International Court of Justice,”

The UN Independent Commission holds the State of Israel responsible for preventing, perpetrating, and failing to punish the perpetrators of genocide. It urges all UN member states to stop supplying arms or equipment that could be used for genocidal acts, to prevent corporate or individual complicity, and to pursue investigations and prosecutions where appropriate. Pillay stressed that global inaction equals complicity each day of silence costs lives and erodes the credibility of the international community.

According to reports by Amnesty International it concludes that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, inflicting some of the highest civilian death tolls ever recorded in a modern conflict especially among children, journalists, and health‑care workers and deliberately creating conditions designed to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians. The organisation also identifies

apartheid‑like policies, forcible transfers, and mass displacement both within Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as systematic torture, arbitrary detention, and impunity for state‑backed settler violence.

On 7 October 2025 the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported 67,173 deaths, including 20,179 children which makes up roughly 30 % of the total number of deaths. 92 % of housing units are damaged, 50 % of hospitals are only partially functional, 88 % of schools lay in ruins, and 531 aid workers were killed. Against this backdrop, 497 volunteers from 48 countries launched a flotilla to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza. What began as a single expedition quickly grew into a worldwide coalition. Coordinators from the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Global Movement to Gaza, and Sumud Nusantara fielded 42 boats, the largest civilian maritime effort ever attempted against the blockade. None of the vessels reached Gaza, the closest was intercepted 25.5 nautical miles from Gaza’s shore. However our message travelled globally, sparking ground mobilisations that challenge the international complicity sustaining the siege. Preparations for future maritime missions are already under way, and the collective steadfastness “Sumud” remains unbroken.

The coalition of participants forming part of the Global Sumud Flotilla is composed of everyday people organisers, humanitarians, doctors, artists, clergy, lawyers and seafarers united by a belief in human dignity and the power of collective action. A cease‑fire does not alter our goal: as long as borders are controlled by a genocidal government and its backers, even basic necessities will be weaponised against Palestinians.

Aware that this voyage we embarked on could be perilous and might even mean a final goodbye to our families, every participant in the Global Sumud Flotilla sailed anyway, convinced that peace and freedom can never be won without sacrifice. Though no vessel reached Gaza, the mission succeeded in forcing the world to see and recognise Palestine. Our aim was never about personal glory, it was to expose a regime that shows no regard for human life and to keep international pressure on a conflict where “peace plans” coexist with ongoing starvation.

Our objective is not merely to deliver aid but to forge a humanitarian corridor independent of the oppressor and to reaffirm a fundamental truth: sovereignty over Palestinian land and water belongs solely to the Palestinian people. This movement builds on decades of Palestinian resistance and international solidarity, transcending national, religious and political differences.

Nelson Mandela’s legacy reverberates in the halls of the United Nations, where an overwhelming majority of member states have condemned the Zionist entity’s ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and gross violations of international law. Images of Palestinian martyrs tortured, maimed, handcuffed and strangled return to grieving families, confirming what Madiba warned the world about: the greatest moral issue of our time. Even the global court of public opinion now echoes Madiba’s words.

Millions have taken to the streets on every continent, demanding a cease‑fire, an end to genocide, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Propaganda may continue, but the facts are undeniable: over 500 Palestinian villages have been destroyed and massacred since 1947, a record documented in history. The moral imperative is clear. History will judge us by the choices we make today. The call to end Gaza’s genocide is not a political slogan it is a demand for humanity itself.

The Royal House of Mandela (RHoM) is committed to upholding the legacy of President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and advocating the universal values of justice, dignity and fundamental human rights. We stand unequivocally with the oppressed of the world and will stand with the Palestinian people and its legitimate resistance until freedom dawns.

Long live the undying spirit of the Palestinian people!

Long live the undying spirit of the Palestinian resistance!

Long live the undying spirit of international solidarity!

Nkosi Zwelivelile

Royal House of Mandela

Mvezo Komkhulu

P.O. Box 126

Viedgesville 5102

Eastern Cape Province

South Africa