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Poll-registration drive encourages Jewish youth to get on voters’ roll
As reported last week, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies has been conducting a nationwide voter-registration drive to encourage Jewish community members to make sure that they are registered to vote in the upcoming national and provincial elections.
SHAUN ZAGNOEV
To that end, we have been engaging with the schools and the South African Union of Jewish Students to encourage all of our young, first-time voters who have not yet done so to get their names and details onto the voters’ roll.
In addition to first-time voters, those already on the roll whose details have changed also need to visit their relevant IEC registration station to ensure that their information is up-to-date come election time. For more details, refer to our advertisement in this week’s SA Jewish Report.
The board’s voter-registration drive forms part of its broader pre-election education and awareness campaign, which I will report on in this column as it unfolds over the next four months.
Remembering the victims of Nazism
Also taking place this weekend, on Sunday 27 January, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This date, chosen because it marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, was designated by the United Nations General Assembly to be the day to remember the six million Jewish and other victims of Nazi tyranny, and foster the development of educational programmes aimed at preventing the recurrence of such atrocities.
For this year’s commemoration, the World Jewish Congress has once again launched a worldwide #WeRemember campaign, in which people are asked to take a photograph of themselves holding a “We Remember” sign and either post it online with #WeRemember, or send it to weremember@wjc.org. I encourage everyone to join in this solemn demonstration of solidarity and commemoration.
Tribute to a great Jewish South African
The highlight of the board’s Gauteng Council conference last November was an exchange of perspectives on South Africa’s challenges and prospects between President Cyril Ramaphosa and renowned business leader Stephen Koseff.
As a community, we were proud to be represented by someone who has combined extraordinary success in the business world with a passionate commitment to working for the betterment of the country as a whole. We also owe Koseff a lasting debt of gratitude for all the friendship, support, and generous assistance he has shown the Jewish community, with which he wholeheartedly identifies.
From the perspective of the board, his assistance over the years has been invaluable, and this is equally true of a range of other Jewish organisations. Koseff recently stepped down as chief executive of investment banking giant Investec, of which he is a co-founder, and whose remarkable success both locally and abroad has been in great part due to his skill, foresight, and bold initiatives.
We warmly thank him for everything he has given to our community, and salute him for multiple contributions to the development of our economy and society.
- Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM, every Friday from 12:00 to 13:00.