Drawing a line against discrimination

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies is the democratically elected representative body and civil rights guardian of South African Jewry. As part of this mandate over the past 120 years, the Board has diligently managed its relationships with political stakeholders to ensure the security and rights of South African Jews.

Over the past three decades, in spite of often divergent opinions, we have always been able to approach the government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), in times of need, and have been received warmly by every democratic president. These relationships have at times become personal, and these open lines of communication allowed us to air concerns safely and ensure the protection of our community’s rights and the continuation of our way of life in South Africa.

However, this longstanding relationship has deteriorated under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration. Following the events of 7 October, the ANC’s failure to condemn Hamas and its subsequent engagement with its representatives marked a significant shift. Following this, for the first time in our history, the Jewish community was excluded from a number of interfaith and cultural events.

It’s particularly hurtful that in spite of our shared history, the ANC chose to exclude the community from its events and refused to engage with us. As a ruling party, the decision to refuse to engage with a single religious group and remove that group from the public space sets a worrying precedent. While we hope that there can be an improvement in the community’s standing with the ANC, these exclusionary and punitive actions cannot be overlooked.

For these reasons, the Board was compelled to take the landmark decision to file a complaint against the ANC at the Cultural, Religious, and Linguistic Rights Commission. This marks a pivotal moment in our commitment to safeguarding the civil rights and liberties of the Jewish community.

Disagreement and the peaceful resolution of differences are hallmarks of a healthy democracy. All South Africans should be free to voice their opinions openly, unafraid of exclusion from the public space. It should be self-evident that a ruling party cannot simply choose to cease engagement with any cultural or religious group based solely on a political disagreement. This runs contrary to the foundational principals of the Constitution.

The Board has an unwavering dedication to our mandate of protecting our community’s interests. It is thus extremely important to demonstrate that as a community, we won’t accept discrimination and we won’t bow to any actor who doesn’t treat us as equal and valued members of this society. We have been a proud and vibrant community of South Africans for more than 175 years, and we wish to remain so well into the future. We remain steadfast in our dual identity: proudly Jewish and proudly South African.

• Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM, every Friday from 12:00 to 13:00.