The Activism That Ignores Its Own Children
The silence of African leaders and the so-called human rights activists is not new, it has simply become louder. The same South African government that preaches justice for Palestine did not even whisper for the Tanzanian students who were murdered or taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th, 2023. There were no vigils, no marches, no hashtags. Not a single rally demanding the release of African captives. The hypocrisy is staggering, justice only matters when it is fashionable, and apparently, the lives of African students do not fit the narrative.
When the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel was filed, South African politicians celebrated as if they had liberated the world. They spoke of genocide, apartheid, and human rights, yet they ignored the very Africans who lay in body bags — victims of the same Hamas terrorists they defend. Two of these souls, Joshua Loitu Mollel and Clemence Felix Mtenga, were young Tanzanian students who journeyed to Israel to learn, not to die. They went to study agriculture, to gain skills that would uplift their families and communities. But the world that screams “Free Palestine” said nothing when they were murdered. Their African lives did not fit the story.
The Forgotten Sons of Africa
Just nineteen days before the massacre of October 7th, the government of Tanzania sent 260 agricultural students to Israel from the Sokoine University of Agriculture. Their mission was simple: to study modern farming techniques for eleven months. They were placed in peaceful kibbutz, agricultural collectives that represent the hard-working heart of Israeli society. On that fateful morning, Hamas terrorists invaded those communities, murdering men, women, and children, and two Tanzanians among them.
Clemence Felix Mtenga’s body was recovered and returned to his family. His people buried him with tears and confusion, wondering why a young man filled with dreams had to die on foreign soil. His death was covered briefly just around Nairobi, then forgotten. Joshua Loitu Mollel was not as “lucky”, his body was dragged into Gaza strip and held captive for two long years. His parents waited through sleepless nights, praying for a miracle, while the world pretended not to see.
When his remains were finally returned to Israel last night on Wednesday, even in grief, his family and community found closure that many hostages never received. The Jewish families of Israel embraced Joshua’s memory as their own, because Israel does not forget the innocent. They mourned with his parents, shared their pain, and honoured him as one of their own children. That is humanity, the very humanity Hamas has never shown.
The Hypocrisy of Silence
Not a single South African minister called for Joshua’s body to be released. Not one African Union statement condemned Hamas for murdering African students. The silence is not accidental; it is political. For many African politicians, Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, it is a tool for ideological posturing. They wave Palestinian flags in Johannesburg while ignoring the blood of their own children spilled in Gaza.
Where were the activists who claim to stand for Black lives? Where were the church leaders and student unions that filled the streets to denounce Israel? How did the deaths of two young black Africans not spark outrage in Africa itself? Because in their twisted moral compass, only Palestinians deserve sympathy, and Jews deserve blame, even when Africans are killed by Hamas. It is a moral failure that borders on betrayal.
Standing With Murderers
Israel, the country they demonize, has consistently shown compassion to the world. From sending medical aid to disaster zones in Haiti, Nepal, and now the Eastern Cape, to providing free heart surgeries for African children, Israel builds, while Hamas destroys. Even in war, Israel warns civilians before striking terrorist targets. Meanwhile, Hamas hides behind those civilians, using women and children as shields while celebrating death.
The same Hamas that captured Joshua and dragged his body into Gaza claims to fight for “liberation.” Liberation from what? From decency? From peace? From the right of others to exist? The truth is simple, Hamas does not fight for Palestine; it fights to eradicate Jews and destroy peace. It has done more to harm Palestinians than any other force in history.
And yet, South African leaders continue to stand by them, shaking hands with murderers, quoting Madiba while siding with terrorists. They forget that Nelson Mandela stood for justice, not propaganda. He was imprisoned for fighting oppression, not for terrorizing innocents. Comparing Mandela’s prison cell to a luxury flotilla cabin, as Dr. Fatima Hendricks did recently, is not just foolish, it is deeply insulting. To equate the suffering of a freedom fighter with the lies of Hamas sympathizers is to spit on South Africa’s history whilst not defending African souls.
Africa’s Moral Crisis
The death of Joshua and Clemence exposes something deeper, Africa’s moral decay. We have become a continent more eager to perform outrage than to confront truth. Our leaders speak loudly about “injustice in Gaza” but remain silent about Boko Haram’s massacres in Nigeria, Al-Shabaab’s bombings in Kenya, or ISIS-linked jihadists in Mozambique. They condemn Israel for defending itself, but never condemn Islamists for enslaving and beheading Christians across Africa. The hypocrisy is no longer ignorance, it is deliberate alignment with evil.
Joshua’s and Clemence's stories should have united Africa. They represented the best of what we could be, hardworking, visionary, and hopeful. They were not politicians, not soldiers, not enemies. They were young men chasing education and peace. Yet their names are forgotten, erased by those who only care about narratives that fit their politics. If Joshua and Clemence had been Palestinian, their faces would be painted on protest posters across the world. But they were African, and Africa failed them.
Remember Joshua and Clemence
Their lives mattered. Their dreams mattered. Their blood cries out not just for justice but for remembrance. Let their names echo louder than the slogans of hypocrites. Let their story remind us that silence in the face of terrorism is complicity. Israel did not kill Joshua and Clemence, Hamas did. And South Africa’s silence helped bury them twice: once in Gaza, and again in memory.
Until Africa learns to stand with truth, not with propaganda, we will remain enslaved by hypocrisy. Justice for Joshua. Justice for Clemence. Justice for all forgotten Africans whose lives were deemed useless by a world too blind to care.
Thabelo Mahangani
Biologist | Human rights advocate
