South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has said that late anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela is “smiling in his grave” over the ICJ’s ruling against Israel, Al Jazeera reports.

“We believe that former President Mandela will be smiling in his grave as one of the advocates for the Genocide Convention,” Lamola was quoted as telling the Reuters news agency on the sidelines of a meeting of the African National Congress party.

During his life, Mandela was known for his strong support of the Palestinian cause, once saying, “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”.