A senior councillor in South Africa’s Johannesburg city was suspended on Tuesday by the mayor after she made a public declaration that the city was a “friend” of Israel.
Mpho Phalatse a councillor in charge of health said at a weekend pro-Israel event “I would like to declare that I am a friend of Israel and the city of Johannesburg is a friend of Israel” according to a video of her speech.
Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba later announced that he had decided to suspend Phalatse pending an investigation into the “full and proper context in which those remarks were made”.
Phalatse is a member of South Africa’s main opposition Democratic Alliance which is in power in the city of Johannesburg. The party supports a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Last month South Africa recalled its ambassador to Israel after the Israeli forces killed 62 Palestinians during peaceful protests against the US embassy transfer to Jerusalem.
The country said in a statement that the decision was made given the “indiscriminate and grave manner of the latest Israeli attack”.
