Vigilance in dangerous times

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD’s) case against Matome Letsoalo finally concluded last Friday with the Randburg Magistrates Court sentencing him to three years imprisonment, suspended for five years subject to not repeating the same offence part during that period.

The court took the matter very seriously, with both prosecutor and magistrate commenting that hateful statements were becoming all too prevalent in South Africa, and that the courts had a responsibility to send a strong message that such behaviour wouldn’t be tolerated. This, ultimately, is what we aimed to achieve when taking on this matter. It wasn’t just about bringing to account a single individual offender, but demonstrating to those who would emulate him that our community isn’t fair game, that we have the will to strenuously respond to antisemitically-motivated attacks, and that in doing so, we have recourse to effective laws strictly prohibiting racially motivated hate speech in our country.

This coming Friday, we will be back in the same court for the first of what will likely be a number of appearances concerning the crimen injuria case lodged against Jan Lamprecht. An ultra-right-wing, stridently pro-Nazi white supremacist, Lamprecht has for years been disseminating antisemitic propaganda of an especially virulent nature, to the point of gleefully praising the perpetrators of deadly shooting attacks on, among others, the Powys and Pittsburgh synagogues, a black church in Charleston in the United States, and a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Over the past week, a series of harrowing terrorist atrocities have taken place in various parts of the world, including Ethiopia, Afghanistan, France, and Austria. Whether motivated by traditional ethnic antagonisms or radical Islam, what underpinned them all were extremist ideologies in which the victims were considered collectively guilty, not for what they might have done, but simply for being “the other”.

In protecting our own society from such barbaric acts, we need always to remember that those who perpetrate them have been thoroughly indoctrinated beforehand, and that much of this is taking place in plain sight through easily accessible online platforms. We know all too well that words can – and frequently do – lead to deadly consequences, and that therefore the fight against extremism must of necessity involve confronting the scourge of online hatred. This is why the SAJBD has made it its core business to take up the most egregious instances of hate speech against our community and see them through to the end, regardless of how many years it might take or what kind of technical, procedural, logistical, or other obstacles might need to be surmounted.

The successes we have gained, the Letsoalo judgment being the latest, have unquestionably helped to create a safer environment for our own community and for all South Africans who are – or might one day be – targeted on the grounds of race, ethnicity, belief, or identity.

In conclusion, I warmly congratulate our national president, Mary Kluk, on being appointed as a member of the leadership council of the Conference on Material Claims Against Germany. This is a position of great responsibility and Mary’s appointment testifies to the esteem with which she is held in global Jewish circles.

• Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM, every Friday from 12:00 to 13:00.