SAJBD Gauteng Council narrows divide with broader society

The new South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) Gauteng Council is focusing its attention on improving the South African Jewish community and broader South African society.

The council was announced by Wendy Kahn, the national director of the SAJBD, during the SAJBD’s Gauteng conference at the Sandton Convention Centre last Thursday, 10 November.

It’s made up of Astrid Berman, Reeva Forman, Lesley-Anne Gatter, Sheri Hanson, Rabbi Dovid Hazdan, Ruby Ichikowitz, Harold Jacobs, David Kuming, Shaun Matisonn, Danny Mofsowitz, Nick Selamolela, Rabbi David Shaw, Bernard Shull, Monica Solomon, and Daniel Witz.

“It’s important for the Jewish community to contribute to broader South African society,” says Mofsowitz, the marketing director at Atlas Finance. “I’d like to get involved in these sorts of initiatives together with our affiliate organisations as well as through the SAJBD’s other civil partnerships.”

Forman, the managing director of Reeva Beauty & Health, says, “I will strive to address the divides within our Jewish community and that of the larger South African community, be they religious or political, by seeking that which we have in common while respecting the differences.”

Shaw, the head rabbi at Sandton Shul, says it would be a privilege to interact regularly with a council endeavouring to make South Africa safer by filling it with love and respect for all South Africans.

Shull, an attorney, hopes “to play a meaningful role in the protection of civil rights and promote co-operation with all our fellow citizens”.

“My goal is to work with and for people who, although they may have different backgrounds and beliefs, aren’t ‘less’ than anyone else,” says Solomon, who has been involved in communal affairs since 1996. “No one should feel threatened or unworthy in any way whatsoever because of their race, gender, religious, or political beliefs. The open dialogue that the SAJBD has always encouraged will ensure this.”

Witz, an attorney, hopes to encourage engagement with leaders in our community to open doors for fresh initiatives and growth, to involve everyone willing to work with the SAJBD in areas of leadership and education, and to secure the future of the South African Jewish community.

“I look forward to working together with our diverse team to ensure that Gauteng remains a vibrant place for all Jews to live freely and proudly, and to support our community to continue to play its important role in nation-building and contributing positively to the growth and development of South Africa,” says Ichikowitz, a director of TransAfrica Capital.

Berman, a director of Werksmans Attorneys, says, “My aim is to work with an incredibly dynamic group of people, alongside existing partners and through the creation of new partnerships, to build understanding and trust between Jewish and non-Jewish communities.”

Jacobs, the chairperson of the previous SAJBD Gauteng Council, told the conference about the work done by the council during the past year and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“From the outset of the pandemic, the council has taken the lead in co-ordinating a range of support programmes, advisory projects, and relief initiatives,” he said. “To this end, the council set up a COVID-19 Jewish community platform, which provided expert medical, financial, legal, and mental-health advice and updates on local developments and decisions.”

Jacobs said the council’s leadership held regular meetings in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban with experts in the field of infectious diseases to discuss and deliberate on all issues, including the opening of shuls and schools, as well as guiding the community about safe practices during the lockdown.

“With the generous support of donors, the SAJBD Food Fund was established, which has since supported worthy projects throughout Gauteng, as well as in many other provinces,” Jacobs said.

“The council continues to fulfil its core mandate as the representative voice and civil rights lobby of the Jewish community. All incidents of antisemitism, the product of a framework built on ignorance, were carefully investigated and appropriate action taken. In partnership with the South African Zionist Federation, the South African Union of Jewish Students, and others, the council worked to counteract anti-Israel extremism in the media, the political sphere, and on university campuses.”

One of the council’s perennial activities is intervening on behalf of shomrei Shabbos students when university exams are set on Shabbat or yom tov, Jacobs said. “To this end, we work closely with the relevant tertiary institutions to make satisfactory alternative arrangements.”

The council also leads participation in South Africa’s democratic and human-rights culture, Jacobs said. “In this regard, the flagship project has been our #MakeUsCount election, education, and awareness campaign, which has been run for every national and local government election since 2009.”

Jacobs said the campaign for the 2021 local government elections featured voter-registration drives, multi-party election debates, and public meetings with party representatives. “As on previous occasions, it concluded with the Board heading up an interfaith observatory to assist the Independent Electoral Commission on polling day.”

Professor Karen Milner, the national chairperson of the SAJBD, said, “We would be completely remiss without recognising the incredible work the Gauteng Council has done. So ably led by Chairperson Harold Jacobs, and its executives, Marc Pozniak, Danny Mofsowitz, and Lesley-Anne Gatter. These are the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to deliver on our mandate to protect the civil rights of Jews in South Africa. It should be a simple mandate. It isn’t always. I want to give thanks and recognise Harold’s leadership in heading up a council that has shown the most incredible dedication, commitment, and energy – everything that you could want for a group of representatives with nothing in it for themselves other than to work on behalf of the Jewish community.”

Nicholas Riley, the head of investment banking and principal investments at Investec, said, “Investec has always had a close and mutually beneficial relationship with the Board of Deputies as well as South African Jewry, a community that has from the outset, played a vital, innovative, and contributing role in society.”