Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Cape Town on Saturday in solidarity with Palestine, joining a coordinated global day of action across more than 60 countries and renewing demands for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian land.
Civil society organisations, religious leaders and solidarity movements gathered under the banner “For Dignity, For Humanity and For Palestine”, calling for justice, accountability and an end to Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.
The march began at the Muir Street Mosque in District Six and proceeded through the city centre before concluding outside the Western Cape Provincial Legislature in Wale Street.
Many demonstrators wore Palestinian colours and carried flags and placards as chants of “Free, Free Palestine” echoed through the streets.
Among those addressing the gathering was Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa (MJC) president Shaykh Riad Fataar, who said the organisation’s solidarity with Palestinians stretched back nearly eight decades.
“I am the president of an organisation whose first march was in 1948 for the people of Palestine. We have always been with the people of Palestine,” he said.
Fataar accused governments around the world of attempting to silence pro-Palestinian voices and push the suffering in Gaza out of public consciousness.
“We are here to say, Palestine and Gaza, you are not forgotten, we are here today for you. We will not be silenced by the designer structures around the world silencing different people,” he said.
“We see how President Trump has put different sanctions on all judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after Navi Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize. So let the world open their eyes and let the governments of the world do their jobs and act in accordance to what the people want. What the people want is humanity, what the people want is freedom for Palestine and Gaza.”
He emphasised the importance of unity across religious and racial lines.
“So this is why we are here today and by the way, we are here as a rainbow nation, as Jews, Muslims and Christians, as whites, blacks and browns, all colours.”
Fataar’s remarks came amid mounting international criticism of Washington’s latest sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has pursued cases involving senior Israeli officials.
The Trump administration announced sweeping new sanctions against the ICC on Friday, escalating its confrontation with the court over its investigations and arrest warrants.
The measures were announced on the same day that South African jurist Navi Pillay, 85, was named the winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
Pillay served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014 and previously as a judge at the ICC and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
More recently, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, which concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
Interfaith leaders also addressed demonstrators outside the provincial legislature, urging sustained solidarity with Palestinians and greater political accountability. The Western Cape Premier had been invited to attend but was absent.
Dr Usuf Chickte, coordinator of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and one of the organisers of the Cape Town march, said the demonstration was part of a worldwide mobilisation demanding an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza and its violations in the occupied West Bank.
“We gathered here today joining millions and billions across the world, more than 400 organisations in 60 countries across the world are today standing in unity in solidarity marking the end of the 3rd year of genocide of Palestinians by Israel,” he said.
Chickte also criticised the Democratic Alliance (DA), calling on the party to demonstrate the same solidarity with Palestine that it had shown towards Ukraine.
“Our demands are to defend the land because of the reigns of terror on the West Bank and to stop the genocide in Gaza. We stand here also to ensure to hold to account the Democratic Alliance (DA) who have put a Ukrainian flag up in the Legislature building and the City Hall. We want the same done here by the DA for Palestine.”
Referring to Pillay’s Nobel Peace Prize, he added: “Navi Pillay who just received the Nobel Peace Prize identified that Israel is committing a genocide and killing children, we want to stand in solidarity and stop that which is the essence of why we are protesting.”
The Cape Town demonstration formed part of a Global Day of Action for Palestine, bringing together organisations, trade unions, student movements, human rights networks and solidarity groups across more than 60 countries.
Saturday’s mobilisation followed a multi-faith vigil in Cape Town earlier in the week commemorating three years since 7 October 2023.
Wednesday’s procession began outside the Cape Town Jewish Holocaust and Genocide Museum before moving through the city to St George’s Cathedral.
At the centre of both demonstrations was a 20-metre-long shroud bearing the names of 22,434 Palestinian children reported killed since 7 October 2023.
The shroud was displayed during Wednesday’s silent demonstration before being carried through Cape Town again on Saturday to the provincial legislature.
Anglican priest Reverend Rene August said the shroud was intended to honour the children as individual human beings rather than allow their deaths to be reduced to statistics.
“This week marks three years of genocide in Gaza and 78 years of occupation in Palestine. On Wednesday, as we marked 7th October, the names of the children aged below five that were killed in Gaza were put on the shroud, those children did not have a chance to live or participate or even resist because their lives were cut short.
“We don’t want to perpetuate their dehumanisation and the evil that has caused their demise. So we choose to remember the children, the names on the shroud and as we carry the shroud, we remember not only them but also the memory of all those killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023.”
