Who is representing SA Jewry at ANC conferences?

ANT KATZ

“If the ANC invites us to events, show up to those events. If they don’t invite us, show up anyway,” he said.

While he may have just been making an unrelated point, this brought to light a question that a number of people in the community have been asking: “Who is actually representing us at the ANC conferences?”

In a statement last week, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies spoke of a “delegation” who were warmly welcomed” at the ANC’s Policy Conference.

As it turns out, this delegation was in fact only one part-time representative, Marc Pozniak, vice-chairman of the Gauteng Board. Pozniak was only there for a day and a half because he had work commitments to attend to.

The only other Board representative was Chaya Singer, SAJBD Parliamentary and Diplomatic Liaison, who was only able to get in with media accreditation. This meant she was working from the very restricted press contingent, unable to sit in on discussion sessions, with very limited access.

She did attend the daily progressive business forum event hosted by the various ministers and ANC members.

There was a second invitation for the vice-president of the National Executive Committee of the SAJBD, Zev Krengel, but he faced accreditation issues on the first day and so couldn’t attend. He was not available for the rest of the conference because he went to Israel for a batmitzvah, according to the SAJBD.

“There was a logistical problem with Zev’s accreditation on the first day, and when he needed to leave for overseas, we attempted to transfer the invitation to another Board representative, which unfortunately was not possible,” said The Board’s head of communications, Charisse Zeifert. 

The fact is that the Jewish community was not represented at all in the controversial foreign relations discussion that most affected the community because it discussed South Africa’s relation with Israel, with even diplomatic termination on the table.

Pozniak had been looking forward to attending that discussion, but had to leave before it happened. He said he was very impressed with the quality of debate at ANC branch level that he had seen in the sessions he managed to attend – and with the status afforded him as an invited guest. “It allowed me access to everything,” he said.

“What did stand out to me was the depth of debate in discussions,” he said. He says he got a very different view from that which one sees played out in the media. “What struck me was the depth of discussion –  it was substantive.”

Zeifert says: “We requested observer invitations and were granted two.” She also said that ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe, had invited Krengel and Pozniak. Pozniak, however, said that he and Krengel had secured their invitations themselves, in the name of the Board, due to their personal relationships with the ruling party.

Zeifert pointed out that as guest participants, the representatives would have enjoyed full participation at the conference, without any restrictions. “It is worth pointing out that the decision to deploy the two representatives, was not done in haste or with reckless abandon, but was rather a continuation of discussions and relationships formed with key allies and individuals within the ANC, leading up to the conference, which ensured that the Board was represented in the best possible way,” she said.

Zeifert added that for the past 12 years, only Zev Krengel had attended ANC conferences. In fact, the SAJBD has never attended an ANC National Policy Conference before.

She says that the SAJBD is puzzled by the furore around the attendance by its members at the ANC Policy Conference. There seems to be a lack of understanding by those questioning the SAJBD’s role at a policy conference of this nature. 

The ANC Policy Conference is an internal event in which ANC delegates from across the country gather to discuss policy around key sectors of society and make recommendations that will be approved or thrown out at the party’s National Elective Conference in December.

“There seems to be a serious lack of transparency from the Board as to how they are invited, who represents us and a lack of commitment to being there for the whole conference,” said a senior member of the community. “It is about time the Board was open with us.”

As the ambassador said in his farewell: “Make sure you are there to tell our story – it is a good story and one we should be sharing.”