Board sues Cape politician for toxic hatred

“Jews have been trying to take over the world for thousands of years. This is why they have been kicked out of 109 countries over 1 000 times. This is why people write entire books calling out Jews in ancient times, medieval times, and modern times. Not Zionists. Jews.”

This statement, accompanied by an image of a Barmitzvah boy reading from the Torah, was tweeted by local extremist Mehmet Vefa Dag on 11 November, on the day he was officially served papers by the Equality Court on charges of hate speech.

The Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape SAJBD) is taking Dag to court for a plethora of antisemitic social media posts disparaging Jews.

“Jews have ruined SA”; “Jews are looting SA”; “Jews are dogs, they should be burned”; and “One hundred thousand Jews control the entire economy of South Africa,” are some of the statements that Dag made on X, all just in July 2024. On 2 August 2024, he said on X, “Jews, your ancestors came to this country [South Africa] as refugees and robbed the whole country. Now take your bags and go to Israel. Don’t let me lose my coolers.”

“Dag’s comments and posts are toxic, blatant, antisemitic, and unapologetic hatred, reminiscent of Nazi Germany,” says Cape SAJBD Chairperson Adrienne Jacobson. “This isn’t only deplorable in an historical context, but unconstitutional and completely unacceptable in a South Africa which places such high value on equality, enshrined in our Constitution.

“The Cape SAJBD refuses to tolerate this in any form,” she says. “Dag claims to be the leader of a political party which presumably has some membership. Therefore, he’s representative of these members and may influence their decisions. Dag’s comments can – and perhaps are designed to – incite violence and influence those around him to act on the lies he spreads.”

Also in July, Dag tweeted, “The fact that the Jews publicly attacked Christians at the opening of the Olympics yesterday [possibly referring to a Christian scene in the opening ceremony] is proof of how dangerous the Jewish faith is for all people of the world. It is time to stop the cruel Jews. Those who disregard the religious values of the three billion Christians in the world who have no place in the world. If you want to live humanely in this world under the same conditions as us, you will respect the religious beliefs of Christians and Muslims. Otherwise, it will not end well.”

Also on 2 August 2024, he posted that Jews “plunder the Congo”, and “Jews steal Congo’s gold and cobalt at the expense of our soldiers’ lives.” Also on that day, he tweeted, “Under the leadership of the DA [Democratic Alliance], Jews will rob our country.”

The next day, he tweeted, “Jews are robbing people of Argentina blandly [sic].” Also on 3 August 2024, he tweeted, “The centre of Cape Town was suddenly filled with Jews,” and “Jews are kidnapping our little girls to Israel … I am deeply concerned about the kidnapping of Joslin Smith to Israel.”

Smith is a six-year-old girl who went missing from her home in Saldanha Bay on 19 February 2024. One X user responded to Dag saying, “This is such a disgusting attempt at trying to be relevant, fuelling your own political agenda. You have no respect for Joslin or her family.”

The next day, Dag engaged in Holocaust denial, tweeting an image of an overweight man in a striped concentration camp uniform, surrounded by men of average weight, saying, “If there were famines in Nazi concentration camps, why are these Jews so well fed?”

Also on 4 August, he tweeted, “Stand united against Jews”; “Jews are burning [the] UK”; “Muslims and Christians blacks [sic] are united against Jews in UK”; and “Anyone recognise these Jews scumbag [sic] in Leicester?” with a picture of individuals doing the “Heil Hitler” salute.

On the same day, he continued to tweet, “Jews are now burning and destroying London. We need to be very careful in Cape Town. Hundreds of thousands of Jews live in Cape Town. Millions of Jews are coming to Cape Town. Cape Town is about to explode.”

The next day, on 5 August 2024, he posted a picture of Helen Zille with the words, “The Jewish origin mother of all problems in South Africa.” When a follower agreed with him, he added, “Devil in human form.” That day, he also tweeted, “Jews have bought 92% of the land in the Western Cape. What is the purpose of these disgusting people?”

That day, he also wrote on X, “The people of England are hungry, thirsty, and unemployed. The main reason for this is they help Ukraine and Israel. Jews are the people who brought England to hunger.” On 8 August, he wrote, “Jews control the international media … Jews are the biggest problem on this earth.”

These are just a small sample of Dag’s antisemitic comments spouted on X and TikTok. Dag is representing himself in the Equality Court case.

In the summons, the Cape SAJBD says Dag’s statements describe Jewish people as “evil, morally corrupt, and wicked”, and that “Jewish people should be forcibly removed from South Africa.” The statements also describe Jews as “illicitly and unjustly controlling the South African and global economy”, and imply that Jews “furtively use money, power, and influence to further their own interests and undermine the interests of others”.

The Cape SAJBD says Dag’s comments demand that Jews “be killed, harmed, or otherwise suffer reprisals”, and describe Jewish people as “illicitly, by force, and without consent, kidnapping the children of non-Jewish people”.

Dag’s social media also demands that “Jewish people and their businesses should be boycotted or otherwise made to suffer reprisals”, and spreads beliefs that “the Holocaust never occurred; Jewish people were not victims of genocide during the Holocaust; and Jewish people fabricated the Holocaust to pursue their own interests”.

The Cape Board states that Dag’s words “could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to be harmful or incite harm and to promote or propagate hate”.

The Cape Board asked the court that Dag’s statements be declared “harmful, inciting harm, and propagating hate amounting to hate speech”. It also asked that Dag tender an unconditional apology to the South African Jewish community, donate R25 000 to the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, and pay the costs of the legal application.

“We trust that our legal system will enforce whatever ruling it passes, and that it ensures that those found guilty abide by the rulings,” says Jacobson. “If Dag falls foul of a ruling or order of court, he will be in contempt of court, which could lead to his arrest.”