KwaZulu-Natal Jewry renown for philanthropy and activism

Durban is home to the third-largest concentration of Jews in South Africa as well as being, after Cape Town and Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), the country’s third oldest Jewish community. In spite of its relatively small size, the community continues to offer its members a full range of communal organisations, activities, and services, including a school, aged-care facilities, outstanding community headquarters in the form of the historic Durban Jewish Club, and an active Holocaust & Genocide Centre. On Monday evening, I was in Durban to meet with our regional branch, the Council for KwaZulu-Natal Jewry (CKNJ). During my visit I updated our KwaZulu-Natal colleagues on the work of the national board while in turn learning more about the activities of the CKNJ and its affiliate organisations.

It was heartening to see how KwaZulu-Natal Jewry, in addition to maintaining their own busy network of communal organisations, continues to be involved in so many areas of public concern. The community is deservedly renowned for its fine philanthropic record. Much of this social outreach work has been accomplished through meaningful social upliftment partnerships with Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. This includes the acclaimed Chiva (Children’s HIV Association) project through which health professionals are brought out from the United Kingdom to help with the rollout of antiretrovirals in KwaZulu-Natal. It was therefore fitting that CKNJ President Susan Abro, National Director Wendy Kahn, and other community representatives were in attendance while Gilad Stern delivered a prayer on behalf of our community at last week’s launch of the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Foundation.

CKNJ Jewry, with the indefatigable Abro leading by example, is likewise engaged in various important public-welfare initiatives, including confronting gender-based violence and promoting social cohesion through the educational programmes of the Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD’s) political and social justice liaison, Alana Baranov, is based in Durban and has been extensively involved over the years in working with vulnerable communities, including refugees. Baranov also represents the SAJBD on the steering committee of the Hate Crimes Working Group, a body that was co-founded by the Board following the countrywide outbreak of xenophobic violence in 2008. Anti-foreigner sentiment and its continuing fall-out on the street has continued to fester since those dark days. Last week, in the wake of further inflammatory statements by certain political figures who should know better, the Board issued a statement denouncing these trends and warning against the dangers of allowing them to continue. This led to Baranov being interviewed on Channel Africa, where she further articulated our stance on the issue and why it’s something that our democracy urgently needs to deal with.

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