You have 72 hours to leave South Africa, DIRCO tells top Israeli diplomat
After expelling Ariel Seidman – Israel’s chargé d’affaires – will South Africa finally close Tel Aviv’s embassy?
Ariel Seidman, Israel’s chargé d’affaires in South Africa, has been given 72 hours to exit South Africa, after he was declared persona non grata by Pretoria.
In a statement released on Friday, 30 January 2026, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said this move was the result of “a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms” by the Israeli Embassy to South Africa on social media, including “insulting attacks against His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa”.
However, it seems the straw the broke the camel’s back was Tel Aviv’s recent visit to the Eastern Cape, where the Israel foreign affairs ministry’s David Saranga descended on the province, bypassing official diplomatic channels.
“Such actions represent a gross abuse of diplomatic privilege and a fundamental breach of the Vienna Convention. They have systematically undermined the trust and protocols essential for bilateral relations.
“South Africa’s sovereignty and the dignity of its offices are inviolable. Mr Seidman is required to depart from the Republic within 72 hours,” said DIRCO in the statement.
Will Ramaphosa close Israel Embassy in South Africa?
DIRCO’s latest “decisive measure” will likely be viewed through the lense of recent tensions between Pretoria and Tel Aviv, after South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of perpetrating a genocide on the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Seidman’s expulsion – after six months in the job – adds another chapter to the book of diplomatic tiffs between the two countries in recent years, with another coming on 10 November 2023 – after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 – when DIRCO démarched then-ambassador of Israel to South Africa, Eli Belotserkovsky.
During the same period, Pretoria also recalled its diplomats from Tel Aviv.
And then came 21 November 2023, when South Africa’s National Assembly adopted an Economic Freedom Fighters-sponsored motion to shut down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria.
However, Ramaphosa has yet to act on that motion, with presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya in November 2025 telling SA People that the matter “remains under consideration”.