This year’s freedom seder is a unique moment in time, says Sachs

GILLIAN KLAWANSKY

Infused with Pesach stories, traditions, and foods, the SAJBD presented a memorable seder. The event aligned the struggles of South African freedom fighters with those of the Jewish people, not least the story of Pesach itself, in which we fought to free ourselves from slavery in Egypt.

Sachs, a celebrated jurist and human-rights activist, addressed the seder. So did Mavuso Msimang, an elder of the African National Congress (ANC), and a former member of the uMkhonto weSizwe military high command, who continues to fight for the principles that underpin our democracy.

For Sachs, what set the night apart was that it was the first time he’d attended a freedom seder in South Africa. The combination of people present, many of them comrades in the struggle and others he knew in the Jewish community, was particularly striking, he said. “It’s not difficult to fuse the themes that come to light. In America, I’ve attended many freedom seders… a non-racist seder, an LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] seder, and even a pro-Palestinian seder!” he said.

Speaking of his childhood connection to his Jewish heritage, Sachs remembered the joy of celebrating Pesach and Rosh Hashanah with his family. “I grew up in a very secular home, but I’d look forward to these festivals because I was going to my auntie Rosie’s where I’d meet my cousins,” he said. “Our family belief was just to connect as a family, and enjoy being together.”

Sachs spoke of a talk he gave to a Jewish audience in Cape Town many years ago upon his return from 24 years of exile. “One thing I noticed was a strong community awareness. Looking after the people in the community – the sick, the elderly, putting people through school, it’s something I appreciate although I’m not active in community activities. My community, in a sense, is a much larger one.

“I can speak to a Jewish audience about freedom and about culture and about ideas.” Yet, Jewish people are an interesting mix of things, Sachs said.

“In the audience at that Cape Town talk, I saw whites with all the benefits that comes with – the culture, the background, the assumptions, and the outlooks, and some take it all for granted.

“One reason why I’ve always responded to requests from the SAJBD is because of my sense that it is aware of those tensions and connections. Being a Jew, being white, being from a community that’s historically been discriminated against, even exterminated, and being part of the master race in this country.”

Tension is a part of life though. “All constitutions are based on the tension between aiming for perfection, and guarding against corruptibility,” he said. “Look at how things have worked out.” People are people, argued Sachs. “Although you’re fighting a heroic and beautiful struggle with beautiful ideals, these are people with frailties, temptations, and ambitions. So, we built into our constitution a whole series of potential constitutional corrections against abuses of power. Ours is the only constitution in the world that has a chapter called ‘Institutions for the protection of democracy’.” We have a constitution that has been cited throughout the world. “From being a pariah in the world, a universal recipient, South Africa has now become a universal donor,” Sachs said.

Yet, he addressed our challenges. “Saying all these things doesn’t mean the constitution itself has saved us from awful things.” The deep foundation of the ugliness in our society lies in hundreds of years of oppression and systems that we created, but we’ve done wrong things ourselves, and we must take account of that. “We can’t blame history for the things that we’ve done ourselves.” Sachs applauded Msimang for speaking out against corruption in the ANC, saying, “It takes a different kind of courage to speak out against the people that you’ve been with in the trenches.”

He discussed the crises the country faces. “The struggle for the hearts, minds, and souls of South Africans is very intense now,” he said. “But what I’ve found impressive is that the response to that has not been to use presidential power to try and deal with the opposition, it’s to use the law, to use processes and procedures, and that’s important. The problem with the rule of law is that it takes longer, but it’s more lasting. If people have behaved like crooks and stolen and lied under oath, if they violated the law, then the law must deal with them. But the law can deal with them only if the people in charge of the legal apparatus are themselves not implicated. They needed to be people of integrity, of skill, who are guided by the principles of the constitution.

“I’m proud to feel proud of our constitution and the checks and balances we built into it,” he concluded. “The constitution can work only if enough people in society want it to work. And that’s the other source of my confidence. Millions of South Africans want a just, fair society. They don’t want lies, cheating, or shenanigans. They want truth, honesty, and directness. People can put up with a lot of hardship if they feel that they’re getting the truth. What’s happening now is the process of transformation in terms of our institutions, procedures, and values. There’s reinforcement of positivity, and great public support for the judiciary, which plays a huge role in our society.”

Msimang discussed the founding of the Native National Congress in 1912, which was the forerunner of the ANC. “My parents were at its founding,” he said. Msimang joined the movement in 1958 to fight for freedom. “One was soaked into the politics of the time, it was very enriching.” He worked closely with Oliver Tambo whom he called “an amazing human being”. Msimang now serves as chief executive of the Oliver Tambo Foundation. Though he has spoken out strongly against corruption in the ANC, he stands by the party. “I will not voluntarily be part of a dismantling of the ANC and it’s devaluing. Not today, and not at any time in the future,” he said.

“It’s not a lost battle. We’re in an extraordinary situation where we’re asking people to vote for an organisation that we denounce as having been infiltrated by corruption. Right now, if you had an ANC weaned off corruption, I believe it would be the best organisation to run this country.” Msimang said it was a difficult battle to remove corruption in the party, but there were many who wanted the ANC not to be what its leadership had turned it into.

“Cyril Ramaphosa, at this point in time, is the best thing that we have at a macro level. He’s by no means an angel, but all things considered, I will continue to ask South Africans to vote for the ANC. More as a South African than as an ANC member, do I make such a plea,” he said.