Local organisations gave a thumbs-down to G4S, a global private security company, hired by Israel, to oversee the security systems in Israeli dungeons in which over 5000 Palestinian men, women and children are  jailed.
Numsa joined a local picket to highlight the plight of Palestinian prisoners, in
Johannesburg, last month (April). Numsa representative, Skhumbuzo Phakathi and
WFTU’s Vuyo Bikitsha attended the protest. The protest was led by the local
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), campaign.
The BDS campaign is a global campaign using economic and political pressure on Israel to comply with the goals of the movement, namely: The end of Israeli occupation and colonization of Arab land, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and respect for the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
“We must support struggles across borders,” Bikitsha said. Human rights organisations have documented widespread torture occurring in Israeli
prisons. Prisoners are often held without trial indefinitely, are subjected to severe
overcrowding, insufficient food, medical neglect, isolation, and regular attacks from
Israeli Special Forces.
G4S operates in South Africa, is at the heart of installing and running security
systems at Israeli jails, organisers said. In June 2013, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation purchased shares in G4S worth $172m, making it one of the company’s biggest share holders.
Organisations, under the banner of BDS have called on Bill Gates to divest now!
People should flood the Gates Foundation’s Facebook page by writing a comment
on a post. “Bill Gates, named the richest man in the world, boasts a personal wealth of $76 billion dollars. Gates must stop investing in torture and human rights abuses,” organisers said.