'Take action now! Urgent Appeal to Cease Coal Shipments to Israel’ 1 April 2025

To: Alan Waller, CEO of the Richard Bay Coal Terminal. ([email protected])

…Dear Alan Waller,

I am writing to urgently request that you prohibit the systematic transfer of coal coal to Israel on vessels departing from Richard Bay Coal Terminal, as these exports directly support its illegal occupation and the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people As part of the systematic and repeated supply of coal, most recently, two vessels—Algoma Value (Self-Discharging Bulk Carrier, IMO 7926148) and Schinousa (Bulk Carrier, IMO 9662409) — departed RBCT last month. They are currently en route to Israel with South African coal with Estimated Time of Arrival on April 3 and April 9, respectively. The coal transported on these vessels, akin to transfers since October 7th 2023, is used to power military facilities that enforce settler-colonial expansion and suppress Palestinian resistance. In the midst of this genocide, with over 50,000 Palestinians killed and countless others deprived of their most fundamental rights, including the right to food, water, electricity, and medical care, it is unacceptable that South African resources continue to fuel the machinery of illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide.

… The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has reaffirmed that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is a violation of international law. Furthermore, the ICJ’s ruling on the South Africa v. Israel case underscores the duty of third states to prevent complicity in genocide. Continued coal exports contradict South Africa’s longstanding commitment to justice and human rights and risk implicating the country in the very crimes it has denounced on the global stage. Therefore, I respectfully urge your office, in your capacity as CEO of the port terminal, to take immediate and concrete steps to uphold your legal and ethical obligations to prevent and not render assistance to genocide and other grave breaches of international law..

… South Africa has long been a leader in the struggle against apartheid and colonial oppression. Its ports should serve as spaces of connection, solidarity, and justice—not as gateways for sustaining Israel’s illegal occupation and genocide. Now is the time to reaffirm this commitment by taking decisive action to sever economic ties that enable these grave crimes. I look forward to your response outlining the concrete steps that will be taken to address this urgent matter.