Lifestyle/Community
KZN Zionist Council a beacon of co-operation
In recent years, the focus of the SA Zionist Federation has expanded to include investing resources in strengthening ties between the Jewish community and other South African communities, especially Christian supporters of Israel, keynote speaker Ben Swartz, national chairman of the SAZF, told the Biennial General Meeting of the KwaZulu-Natal Zionist Council (KZNC) recently.
MICHELLE SHAPIRA
Pictured: Keynote speaker Ben Swartz, chairman of the SAZF, Princess Mukelile Zulu, representing the Wellness Programme of King Goodwill Zwelithini and re-elected chairman of the KZN Zionist Council, Prof Antony Arkin, at the Council’s Biennial National Council meeting recently.
Professor Antony Arkin was re-elected for a further term as chairman, with Greg Bass as treasurer. The committee, consisting of Suzanne Edmunds, Rochelle Puterman, Jeanette Bank, Glen Sol and Gilad Friedman, was unanimously re-elected.
Swartz lauded the “phenomenal achievements” of SA Friends of Israel (SAFI), which was formed under the auspices of the SAZF five years ago. Through its hard work in areas such as Israel advocacy training, arranging group specific tours to Israel and their annual Israel Advocacy Conference, SAFI has gone “from strength to strength”.
He outlined the ways in which the Jewish community has been able to reciprocate the support received from South Africans in the development of projects in the areas of health, agriculture and education facilitated by the SAZF and SAFI, through which Israeli ideas and technology can benefit the lives of ordinary South Africans.
In his chairman’s report, Arkin highlighted the varied and abundant achievements of the KNZC, considering the constraints, both financial and in terms of human resources. He noted that when he was first approached to chair the KNZC 30 years ago, it had 14 fulltime employees, while presently, it had only one.
Nevertheless, the KNZC would continue to carry out the goals set by the South African Zionist Federation to the best of its ability, adapting to the changing circumstances.
He mentioned in particular the ongoing, work of DIVOTE, an affiliate organisation to the KNZC, which provides comfort and support to those affected by terror in Israel.
Princess Mukelile Zulu, representing the Wellness Programme of King Goodwill Zwelithini, described the work of the Wellness Clinic at Matubatuba, a project which was undertaken by the Bayede Trust in conjunction with the KZN Department of Health, the Dis-Chem Foundation and the KNZC.
She described some of the great successes of the clinic so far and thanked the Jewish community for their support of the underprivileged and expressed her hope that in the future this project would be expanded to incorporate a further nine clinics in areas which are badly in need of better primary healthcare.