South Africa’s ANC relationship with Iran

While Islamic Jihad and Hamas are internationally recognized as terrorist organizations, the ANC openly supports Iran’s ‘axis of evil’; Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, and has falsely accused Israel of a ‘genocide’ against the people of Gaza – laying unverified charges at the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) – while ignoring the fact that it was Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis who attacked Israel, and Israel is retaliating in defense of her people and country.

Further, it has been reliably reported in the Middle Eastern press that 160 Iranian lawyers, in a letter to the US Secretary of State, the Department of Justice, and the leaders of the US Congress, requested an investigation into the alleged receipt of bribes by South African leaders from the Islamic Republic.

In this letter, US officials were urged to investigate the alleged payment of bribes by Iran to the African National Congress (ANC) party, which holds the majority of seats in the National Assembly and leads the government. The letter alleges that officials of the ANC received bribes from Iran to pay the party’s debts in exchange for agreeing to accuse Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The authors of the letter highlight numerous meetings between officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the South African government, especially after the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

The letter reveals a series of events that began in October 2023, shortly after Hamas and Hezbollah invaded Israel, when South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor (who is a convert to Islamism) travelled to Iran to meet with the President of the Republic to discuss the Israel-Hamas war. Less than two months later, in December, South Africa filed a complaint of ‘genocide’ against Israel in the ICJ.

In January, despite well-known crippling financial difficulties within the ANC – the Sheriff of the Court was about to ‘attach’ ANC office equipment to repay multi-million debts – the party surprisingly announced that its finances had been stabilized. This asserts that the ANC has acted as a diplomatic proxy for the Islamic Republic of Iran against Israel by accepting bribes.

This ‘relationship’ with Iran – and China and Russia – is of particular concern to the US Presidency, as it’s seen as a threat to their national security.

As of the 14th March 2025, the USA government has listed Ebrahim Rasool, the South African Ambassador to that country, as ‘persona non grata’ and expelled him because of his recent statements condemning the US presidency, and accusing President Donal Trump of “leading a white supremacist movement in America and around the world.” He rambled on incoherently saying, “so in terms of that – the supremacist assault on incumbency, we see it in the domestic politics of the USA, the MAGA movement – the Make America Great Again movement.”

The consequences of such statements are dire for the broader South African economy as it’s likely to result in Trump’s confirmation that AGOA, the preferential trade and investment agreement with South Africa, is likely to be terminated. This can be described as ‘the ANC clearly committing treason by sabotaging our country’s extremely important economic ties with the USA.’

The Author

Mark Wade is a documentary film maker and anti-apartheid activist, and was forced into exile during the 1970s due to his opposition to compulsory military conscription – designed to defend government’s apartheid policies. He was offered the ‘right to return’ to the country during the Indemnity Hearings in the early 1990s, prior to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) hearings of 1994 – where the objective was to uncover the human rights abuses under apartheid, grant amnesty to the perpetrators, and offer reparation and rehabilitation to the victims.

As an Orthodox Jew, he’s particularly concerned about the ANC government’s overt anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, and their support of Iran’s ‘axis of evil’. South Africa’s Jewish community is now under constant threat from government and the Muslim lobby, requiring the permanent presence of armed guards at their institutions, communal organizations and schools. Out of desperation, the Jewish community has created its own security services, ambulances, and rapid response emergency teams.

His 8-part documentary series titled ‘Legends and Legacies’, on the history and contribution of South African Jews, is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and IZZY TV. Mark is also a researcher for the NGO IsraelFAQs.