Jewish organisations are a hive of activity

MARY KLUK

The SAJBD, as has been frequently stressed in this column, sees its role as being to combine protecting the civil rights and security of South African Jewry with involving the community in general public affairs.

Our community, at the organisational and individual level, has much to contribute in terms of skills, knowledge and resources, and the Board is always looking for ways to facilitate this. What I always find so heartening is how very much community members want to contribute in some way to the betterment of their society, and the varied and innovative ways in which so many are already doing so.

Last week, the Board’s Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban branches were all involved in activities aimed at achieving these goals. The Cape Council held another successful B-JEN (Black-Jewish Entrepreneurs’ Network) event, hosted once again by Investec.

B-JEN was launched by the Cape Council, in partnership with the SA Black Entrepreneurs Forum, in March 2013, and was successfully introduced in Johannesburg the following year.

It acts as a networking forum for black and Jewish entrepreneurs to get together to share their experiences and discuss potential business opportunities. To date, the initiative has brought together some 200 emerging and established entrepreneurs, many of whom have since either gone into business or started potential conversations as a result.

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In KwaZulu-Natal, the Council for KZN Jewry’s two vice presidents, Alana Baranov and Jeremy Droyman, met with the leadership of the ANC’s Harry Gwala Regional District at their Ixopo offices.

It was an extremely warm and constructive meeting, with various possible ways in which the Jewish community in the province could work with the branches and wards of the ANC in social upliftment projects were discussed. 

Particular interest was expressed in the work of the Durban Holocaust Centre, and the role it plays in promoting tolerance and anti-racism in a province that only recently experienced a serious wave of xenophobic violence.

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Finally, in Johannesburg on Tuesday, we were privileged to host Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago at a dinner, again hosted by Investec, in the course of which he addressed and engaged with Jewish business leaders.

It was an enjoyable and informative evening for all those present, myself included. Such initiatives do much to build relationships between our community and important government portfolios, and we will continue to look to hosting similar events in future. In the course of the same week, Gauteng Council chairman Sean Zagnoev and other Council members attended a conference on religious fundamentalism organised by the Gauteng Legislature and ANC provincial branch.

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