Israel’s offer to assist the Eastern Cape with water, healthcare, and agriculture expertise on Friday, 23 January, was flatly condemned by provincial Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane as soon as he heard about it.
Rather than being grateful for an offer of unconditional help from visiting ambassador David Saranga in areas where the Eastern Cape is battling, Mabuyane has accused Israeli embassy officials and AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo of breaching diplomatic protocol.
Saranga, who is familiar with the AbaThembu king, who recently visited Israel, met him and about 50 traditional leaders to make the offer. When asked what he wanted in return, he said, “The only thing we need is your friendship.”
The four-day visit to the Eastern Cape included meetings with hospital management; traditional leaders; development organisations; and local business figures, and focused on water access, healthcare support, and agricultural development.
“My trip was to find ways for cooperation,” Saranga told the SA Jewish Report. “The king saw what Israel can offer. The question then became how we turn that into something practical.”
Mabuyane claimed the engagements were unauthorised and undermined South Africa’s constitutional order. In a statement, he said that he had learned “with shock and concern” of reports that Israeli officials had visited provincial institutions, including hospitals and Walter Sisulu University, without the knowledge or consent of the Eastern Cape government.
“The conduct of foreign diplomatic missions engaging provincial institutions outside established diplomatic channels constitutes a clear breach of diplomatic protocol,” Mabuyane said, adding that authority over foreign relations rests with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
This dispute draws attention to the Eastern Cape’s deep and long-standing service delivery crisis. The province continues to struggle with water shortages, deteriorating infrastructure, and severe pressure on its healthcare system, particularly in rural areas.
Athol Trollip, ActionSA’s Eastern Cape chairperson, said the province’s water situation was critical. “We are a water-scarce province and our infrastructure maintenance is woeful,” Trollip said. “We waste more than 40% of potable water, and wastewater treatment is disastrous, with raw untreated sewerage discharged into most of our water courses.”
It was for this reason that the king visited Israel, met leaders, and toured institutions specialising in healthcare, water management, and agriculture.
While in the Eastern Cape, Saranga met senior management at Mthatha General Hospital and Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital. The visits followed the king’s meeting with the director of Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest hospital. “They were to give us a list of what they really need,” Saranga said. “After that, we would organise a Zoom meeting with the hospital director in Israel and see how we could move forward.”
Saranga said that Israel regularly hosts medical students and healthcare professionals from around the world, often supported by its foreign ministry, but acknowledged that such exchanges require formal agreements between governments. “This is where politics sometimes blocks things that could really help people,” he said.
Water access formed a central part of the visit. Saranga was accompanied by Innovation: Africa, a non-profit organisation that installs solar-powered water and energy systems in remote African villages and is already active in other parts of South Africa. The organisation is exploring potential projects in the Eastern Cape.
A key engagement was a gathering of more than 50 traditional leaders convened by King Dalindyebo. Saranga said water shortages dominated the discussion. “One of the leaders asked me why Israel was coming to one of the poorest provinces in South Africa,” Saranga said. “I told him, ‘We aren’t coming here to make money.’”
Mabuyane claimed the AbaThembu king had no mandate to engage in matters involving foreign assistance or the management of public institutions. He also directed the member of the Executive Council for Health to investigate reports that departmental health officials had accepted donations without following proper procedures.
The Israeli embassy in South Africa rejected claims that it acted outside diplomatic norms. The embassy said it operated in accordance with international conventions and engaged with a wide range of stakeholders as part of standard diplomatic practice.
The embassy said its outreach focused on humanitarian cooperation and development, and that engagements with provincial institutions and traditional leaders were conducted transparently and in good faith.
Trollip said the Eastern Cape could benefit significantly from Israeli expertise, particularly in water management and agriculture. “As a water-scarce and primarily agriculture-orientated province, we could learn a lot from Israel with regard to innovative irrigation technologies, crop and pasture production, soil conservation, and eco-tourism,” he said.
He said it was regrettable that national government policy limited such engagement. “We would be better off building international relations that benefit our economy and service delivery,” Trollip said.
For Saranga, the visit was framed as a humanitarian, people-centred initiative. “When you talk about water, healthcare, agriculture, these aren’t political issues,” he said. “These are human issues.”
The future of the proposed initiatives is now uncertain as provincial investigation continues. What’s clear is that a visit intended to address urgent local needs has instead become a flashpoint for a much larger struggle over diplomacy, authority, and who ultimately pays the price when politics and service delivery collide.
Claudia Gross
www.sajr.co.za