There have been occasional eruptions, such as the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident.

There Israel’s Ambassador to South Africa, Dov Segev-Steinberg, was summoned to a dressing down by  Deputy Minister of International Relations Sue van der Merwe.

In recalling Ambassador Ismail Coovadia from Tel Aviv, SA became the only country apart from Turkey to take such strong action.

 Before that,   Deputy Minister Fatima Hajaij, famous for  an anti-Jewish rant at a rally, also gave Segev-Steinberg a dressing down.

Now Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim  says the government discourages South Africans from visiting Israel.

Coming after the recent furore over the labelling of goods produced in the West Bank, Ebrahim’s statement  brings  further into  the open an obvious bias. It lends weight to the campaign to boycott Israel.

 Such a policy is not constructive.

It runs counter to  the South African way, where  parties negotiate in good faith.

Talking is better than ostracism.