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Open Letter: President of RSA,Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa

President of RSA, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa: president@presidency.gov.za / malebo@gov.za

Cc Minister of DIRCO, Mr. Ronald Ramola: minister@dirco.gov.za

 

President Ramaphosa: Please Save the Life of Hunger Striker Umer Khalid–Our History Against Apartheid Demands South Africa Urgently Contact British PM Keir Starmer to Meet the Demands

of Political Detainees in British Prisons for Protesting the Palestinian Genocide by Israel Palestine Action (PA) hunger striker, Umer Kalid, 22, on remand in a British prison for more than a year

now, is now refusing water in protest against the British government for not fully meeting political detainees’ demands. Umer is the last of 8 detainees who went on hunger strike. He has embarked on a

hunger striker since 14 January, refusing food on 18 consecutive days and has been on dry-fast, refusing water since Saturday , the 24th of January. Umer suffers from a rare genetic condition, limb girdle

muscular dystrophy (LGMD), that puts him at further risk of rapid health decline. As a political detainee,

Umer Khalid’s demands are for:

-Immediate bail for all political detainees

-Fair trial

-Ending censorship of detainees’ communications in prison

-De-proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist group

-Shutting down, Israeli arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, in the UK.

 

The hunger strikes by detainees in British prisons are a serious humanitarian crisis not just for Britain but the world. People of conscience everywhere are protesting the genocide in Gaza that even the UN has investigated and pronounced on 7 January 2026, the Palestinian Genocide (see https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/israel/20260105-thematic-report-israel[1]

discrimin.pdf). South Africa’s case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is a critical step in this regard at the international level to protect Palestinians’ right to existence. We must, as a country, now also support those exercising their right to stand in solidarity with Palestinians. It is egregious that Britain, a democratic country, is unjustly arresting and detaining pro-Palestinian protestors, holding them indefinitely on remand and banning them by labelling them “terrorists”.

 

Umer Khalid is a political activist who is registering his protest through his body for his own rights in  detention and the rights of Palestine Action and its members to protest for the rights of Palestinians. Political detainees do not take lightly the decision to go on hunger strike. Their bodies are the only means left to protest injustice; they know full well the suffering it will cause them. Hunger strikers risk serious irreversible health damage and death. Water and food deprivation cause severe, rapid dehydration, acute kidney strain, electrolyte imbalances, and high metabolic stress that can lead to extreme fatigue, dizziness, hypotension, fainting, kidney failure risk, brain swelling, or death. Dry fasting is highly dangerous; survival time depends on age, pre-existing health conditions, etc.; a normal-weight person lasts 2–3 months. Dry fast without water could lead to death within a week.

 

Umer Khalid is going to die if PM Keir Stammer is not guided by his international peers to intervene. A death in custody of a young political detainee would be a national tragedy. It would also tarnish the image of the British government, already compromised by its complicity in the Palestinian Genocide by trading arms to Israel that these activists are protesting. We remind that the death of Bobby Sands and other hunger strikers fighting for Irish sovereignty still stands as a blight on contemporary British history.

 

Detention without trial and hunger strikes also impact detainees’ loved ones and their communities. This is painful for all of us, too. We must intervene to get the British government to stop its cruelty before it is too late for Umer. We do not want Umer to die or suffer more damage to his body.

 

Our own people, unjustly detained by the apartheid regime for fighting against apartheid, also went on hunger strikes. We remind that in the 1960s, political prisoners on Robben Island went on hunger strike for better prison conditions. In 1989, more than 700 political detainees went on hunger strike to protest their detention without trial and the oppression of black people by the apartheid state. Local and international pressure led to their release before tragedy struck. In the 1990s, political prisoners on Robben Island successfully went on hunger strike for their release during negotiations with the apartheid government. Umer, indeed, all the young hunger strikers in British prisons (about whom we have also written to you, Mr. President, for your support), are aligned with our own stand against apartheid Israel.

 

Our philosophy from Africa is: “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”. A person is a person through other people. Ubuntu wisdom is about our interconnectedness, community, and shared humanity. A person’s

own humanity relies on recognizing and respecting the humanity of others. “I am because you are”. This is our indigenous, living concept of humanity and humanitarianism.

 

We, for all these reasons and the great urgency to prevent a cruel, unjust death, request, Mr. President, that you take the lead to intervene on a humanitarian basis for Umer Khalid’s life and rights. We call on you as the first citizen of the Republic to act on our behalf and contact your counterpart, PM Starmer and to rally your peers in other countries and guide PM Starmer towards a principled ending of this humanitarian crisis by fully meeting the reasonable and just demands of the hunger strikers.

 

We call on people of conscience in our country to support this call. We call on people of conscience and governments around the world to intervene with PM Starmer to stop this humanitarian crisis involving the hunger strikers in British prisons by doing the right thing. Write to your president and foreign ministry. Write to Umer Khalid to show solidarity with and support for him via Prisoners For Palestine at: emailallprisoners@proton.me

 

Mr President, please respond to our open letter and inform us publicly of your efforts as requested. Please stand up for our history of courageous struggle that brought us our freedom and lead at the international level with Ubuntu wisdom, which we strive for in our spirit and actions in all things as a nation.

 

This open letter is endorsed by 27 organizations and 37 individuals, listed below.

 

For further information:

Global South Against Xenophobia (GSAX)

 

Roshila Nair +27 64 8770434 / gsax.za@gmail.com

 

Healthcare workers For Palestine—South Africa (HCW4P-SA)

 

Dr Feroza Amien +27 82 876 4448 / hcw4palestinesa@gmail.com

 

Endorsements

  1. Transnational Migration Agency-South Africa (ATMA-SA)
  2. Botshabelo Unemployed Movement (BUM)
  3. ZEP Co-ordinating Committee (ZCC)
  4. International Solidarity Movement for Africa and Palestine (ISMAP)
  5. Wage Peace
  6. The People’s TRC
  7. Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA)
  8. Green Future Social and Environmental Justice Network (GFSEJN)
  9. People Against Oppression (PAO)
  10. South Africa Palestine Movement (SAPM)
  11. Alsirat
  12. Durban For Palestine
  13. Reform And Upliftment Foundation (RAUF)
  14. National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel)
  15. KwaZulu-Natal Palestine Solidarity Forum (PSF)
  16. #KZNPALART
  17. Palestine Solidarity Group-Pietermarizburg (PSG-PMB)
  18. The Unscripted Revolution Podcast
  19. Mothers4Gaza
  20. United Front (UF)
  21. Social Work Action Network-South Africa (SWAN-SA)
  22. Africa Revival Foundation (ARF)
  23. Eastridge Women’s Circle, Mitchellsplain, Cape Town
  24. Inspire Network
  25. Housing Assembly (HA)
  26. Media Review Network (MRN)
  27. Beacon of Hope South Africa (BoFSA)
  28. Motsi Kokoma
  29. Dr. Albert Mpazayabo
  30. Riyaaz Ismail
  31. Pregs Govender (former MP and SA Human Rights Commissioner)
  32. Dr. Laila Suleman, Cape Town, Western Cape
  33. Shabnam Palesa Mohamed (International Legal Coalition for Palestine)
  34. Vanessa Japtha
  35. Dr. Quraysha Ismail Sooliman
  36. Muhammad Masoom Bagdadi
  37. Anne October (Eastridge, Mitchellsplain, Cape Town)
  38. Lucky Thwala

39.Vanessa Farr, Cape Town

  1. Britt Baatjes
  2. Joseph Marr
  3. Diba Moruti, Free State
  4. Merran Roy, Eastern Cape
  5. Firoza Mayet
  6. Edward Muchatuta
  7. Hassen Lorgat
  8. Xana McCauley, Gauteng.
  9. Nikita Ramkissoon, Gauteng49. Manuku Princess Majola
  10. Saydoon Nisa Sayed, KwaZulu-Natal
  11. Mercy Dube (Mpumalanga)
  12. Roshila Nair, Cape Town
  13. Ayesha Bagus
  14. Edward Muchatuta
  15. Linda Harms-Smith
  16. Somaya Abdullah
  17. Melanie Alperstein
  18. Canon Revd Michael Weeder
  19. Lumumba Chia, Cape Town
  20. Masoodah Chitke, Cape Town
  21. Dr. Feroza Amien
  22. Julekha Van Dorsen
  23. Kashiefa Achmat
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