"Persona Non Grata" South Africa Expels Israeli Diplomat

South Africa’s decision to expel Israel’s senior envoy marks a sharp escalation in an already deteriorating bilateral relationship, signaling that Pretoria is willing to absorb diplomatic retaliation to enforce what it calls respect for sovereignty and international law.

On Friday, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation declared Ariel Seidman, Israel’s charge d’affaires, persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours. The ministry accused Seidman of “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms” that, in its view, crossed the threshold from political disagreement into institutional disrespect.

In a formal statement, the department said Seidman had launched “insulting attacks” against President Cyril Ramaphosa on social media and failed to notify authorities of “purported visits by senior Israeli officials.”

Such conduct, it said, amounted to “a gross abuse of diplomatic privilege and a fundamental breach of the Vienna Convention.”

Pretoria urged Israel to ensure future diplomatic engagement demonstrated respect for South African sovereignty and established protocols.

Reciprocation by Israel

Israel responded within hours. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had declared Shaun Edward Byneveldt, a senior South African diplomat, persona non grata and had likewise given him 72 hours to leave Israel. “Additional steps will be considered in due course,” the ministry said in a statement shared publicly.

Byneveldt serves as South Africa’s ambassador to the State of Palestine and operates from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

South Africa’s foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri framed Israel’s response as emblematic of a broader political dispute rather than a procedural one. He said Israel’s actions force “a farcical arrangement” in which South Africa’s envoy to Palestine is accredited through “the very state that occupies his host country,” adding that this underscores Israel’s refusal to honor international consensus on Palestinian statehood.

Legal Pressure Through International Courts

The diplomatic rupture unfolds against a backdrop of sustained legal pressure by South Africa on Israel since late 2023. On Nov. 16, 2023, President Ramaphosa confirmed that South Africa had filed a referral to the International Criminal Court seeking an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.

On Dec. 18, 2023, Pretoria warned that South African citizens serving in the Israel Defense Forces could face prosecution at home, saying it was “gravely concerned” that citizens joining the war may be committing “international crimes.” The government added that naturalized citizens could be stripped of nationality.

That legal track intensified on Jan. 11, 2024, when South Africa formally opened its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In its submission, Pretoria cited Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, where at least 71,660 people have been killed since October 2023, according to figures referenced by UN officials and human rights organizations. Israel rejects the genocide allegation and denies targeting civilians.

Support from Opposition Party

The expulsion decision was welcomed by the Economic Freedom Fighters, a South African opposition party, which said Israel had established itself as “a rogue state” through repeated violations of UN resolutions and defiance of international courts. The party urged the government to go further by severing diplomatic and economic ties.

Palestine for South Africans

Israel’s diplomatic standing in South Africa is also shaped by history beyond Gaza Genocide. During the apartheid era, Israel maintained military, intelligence, and economic ties with the apartheid government, a relationship that has left a lasting imprint on public and political perceptions in post-apartheid South Africa.

For many South Africans, especially within the ruling African National Congress and civil society groups, this legacy reinforces contemporary criticism of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians, which they view through the prism of their own experience with racial segregation, dispossession, and international isolation.

This historical memory is frequently reinforced by the words of Nelson Mandela, who explicitly linked South Africa’s liberation struggle to that of Palestinians.

We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.

Anti-Apartheid Activist & Former South African President Nelson Mandela

The quote is often invoked by South African officials and activists to frame Israel’s contemporary policies not as a distant foreign issue, but as one resonating deeply with South Africa’s own past under apartheid.

Political Fallout And Domestic Signals

For Pretoria, the move to expel Israeli diplomat reinforces a pattern established over the past 14 months: pairing international legal action with increasingly restrictive diplomatic measures.

For Israel, the reciprocal expulsion preserves parity but does little to arrest a relationship that has shifted from strategic disagreement to institutional confrontation, with embassies, courts, and conventions now central to the dispute.