Why the smear campaign against the Iranian briefing fails the litmus test

By SAYED RIDHWAAN MOHAMED

A firsthand account challenges the South African Jewish Report narratives surrounding the Iranian ambassador’s Cape Town briefing, highlighting South Africa’s resistance to ‘apartheid-style’ framing and misinformation.

As a key host of the recent briefing by the Iranian Ambassador in Cape Town, I had a front-row seat to an event that has since been subjected to a masterclass in media spin. While publications like the SA Jewish Report have attempted to read ‘intentions’ from afar, those of us on the ground saw a very different reality.

In a country that spent decades dismantling a state-sponsored machinery of misinformation, South Africans have developed a keen political muscle memory. We know how to identify the signs of a narrative designed to ‘other’ movements and delegitimise those who challenge global hegemony. Therefore, when the SA Jewish Report characterises a publicly broadcast diplomatic briefing in Cape Town as a gathering of ‘anti-Israel extremists’ who ‘unashamedly’ support ‘atrocities’, it does not read like journalism; it reads like a recycled script from the 1980s.

The myth of the ‘clandestine’ meeting

The most glaring flaw in the partisan critique of the briefing with Iranian Ambassador Mansour Shakib Mehr is the attempt to frame it as a fringe, shameful event. In reality, the briefing was a matter of public record, attended by national news agencies and broadcast to the South African public. There is a profound irony in suggesting that Members of Parliament, retired judges and civil society leaders were ‘unashamed’ in their attendance; one does not live-stream an event they are ashamed of.

By attempting to shroud a transparent diplomatic exchange in an aura of ‘extremism’, critics are employing a classic tactic: if you cannot defeat the argument for global solidarity, you instead attempt to criminalise the participants.

Decoding the ‘pawn’ narrative

The article’s reliance on the ‘useful global pawn’ narrative, suggesting the ANC has ‘sold its values to the highest bidder’, is not just an attack on a political party; it is an insult to South African sovereignty. This rhetoric implies that South Africans are incapable of forming their own geopolitical strategies and are merely ‘captured’ by foreign interests through ‘patronage’.

On the contrary, the engagement of South African activists and community members with the Iranian briefing is rooted in a consistent act that prioritises the liberation of all peoples — from Palestine to any corner of the globe attacked and destabilised by Western hegemony. For a people whose representatives stood at the International Court of Justice to challenge genocide, seeking ‘first-hand insight’ into regional resistance is an essential act of political due diligence.

South Africans do not need ‘stooges’ or partisan gatekeepers to dictate who they are allowed to speak with in the global struggle for justice.

The smokescreen of selective outrage

The critique heavily leans on ‘decoding’ language, such as the use of the term ‘Epstein class’, to manufacture a narrative of ‘textbook modern antisemitism’. While prejudice must always be interrogated, the hyper-focus on linguistic ‘dog whistles’ serves as a convenient smokescreen. It shifts the conversation away from the very real missiles and bombs falling on civilians and towards a debate about semantics.

When a media house abandons the basic rules of the Press Code, it signals that it is no longer a seeker of truth, but a manufacturer of a specific political message.

Finally, we must address the ethics of the medium. A publication that operates outside the oversight of the South African Press Council, and one that utilises imagery of public figures without proper professional credits or attribution, lacks the standing to lecture the public on ‘principles’. When a media house abandons the basic rules of the Press Code, it signals that it is no longer a seeker of truth, but a manufacturer of a specific political message.

South Africa is a sovereign republic that refuses to be fooled by old-age tactics; we know how to identify the smokescreens of those who prefer the world to remain under the thumb of traditional power structures.

Sayed Ridhwaan is a researcher and Honours graduate in Islamic Studies. A steadfast advocate for humanitarian rights and global justice, he lends his expertise to numerous committees specialising in interfaith advocacy and the advocacy of human rights in Palestine and beyond. He currently serves on the exco of the Cape Town Ulama Board, is an executive member of the Sunni Ulama Council (Cape), and is a co-founder of the Ahlus Sunnah Media Network.