The SA Jewish Board of Deputies
Standing up to
the hate
Responding to the latest round of xenophobia
by Wendy Kahn
The recent xenophobia crisis that erupted
in our country in April this year once
again disturbed us all. It reopened wounds
that started in 2008 and raised serious
issues of intolerance and hatred in our
society. We saw an ugliness re-emerge that
we had hoped had been banished from our
rainbow nation.
In 2008, the South African Jewish Board
of Deputies, together with many of our
incredible Jewish organisations, became
heavily involved in alleviating the suffering
at that time, working in the shelters and
displacement centres and ensuring that
those affected by the violence were cared
for. Similarly, when the violence emerged
again this year, our community ensured
that the foreign nationals in South Africa
knew they were not alone. Appeals to SA
Jewry turned our offices in Johannesburg
and Durban into storehouses for the
supplies requested based on the needs of
the shelters. When the shelters were closed
in Gauteng, a truck delivered 82 large
boxes of aid to assist those in the ongoing
crisis in KwaZulu-Natal.
This was just a part of our efforts
around this shocking escalation of
xenophobia. For the past seven years, the
SAJBD has been involved in processes
aimed at addressing the underlying causes
30 JEWISH LIFE n ISSUE 85
of this disturbing form of hatred. Unless
we address these issues, the incidents will
keep erupting.
In 2008, the SAJBD joined various
think-tanks and advocacy groups
committed to addressing the situation in
the long term. Out of that emerged an
important grouping of NGOs, known as
the Hate Crimes Working Group, of which
the SAJBD is a founder member and still
serves on the steering committee. Among
the issues that became apparent to the
HCWG was the lack of data on hate crimes
in South Africa, as well as the lack of hate
crimes legislation and recognition. All too
often incidents that are motivated by hate
or intolerance are recorded by police as an
assault or murder, without any reference
to the underlying hate-based motivation.
Over four years, a dedicated team of
researchers, together with civil society
members like the SAJBD, have developed
a monitoring form to record incidents of
hate crimes, hate speech, and intentional
unfair discrimination. This will help to
create a better understanding of the true
situation in our country to motivate for
interventions and hate crimes legislation.
The SAJBD too provides incidents for
recording, and it is fed into this system.
This data form will be used until 2017 to
gain a better understanding of the
situation in South Africa. This is critical in
terms of advocacy. The HCWG is actively
involved both in educating South Africans
around issues of hate in our country –
whether it is aimed at foreign nationals,
women, the LGBTI community or the
Jewish community – as well as working
with the Justice Ministry in campaigning
for improved recognition and legislation
against hate crime.
In addition to our involvement in the
HCWG, the SAJBD has also partnered with
an incredible group, Peace Action, which is
focused on addressing the underlying
issues around the xenophobia. Under the
direction of Bishop Paul Verryn and Penny
Foley, Peace Action operates in the areas
affected by xenophobia. Their team records
the incidents in an independent manner,
addressing each issue with the necessary
authorities, trying to mediate where they
can and raise issues immediately so they
don’t flare up. It is groups such as Peace
Action working on the ground that are the
true heroes of the situation.
The SAJBD regional council in Durban,
the CKNJ, has also become involved in
processes aimed at looking at the long-term
responses to the crisis and raising
awareness about and fighting xenophobia.
It has partnered with the SA National Civics
Organisation (SANCO) in this regard.
While we marched through the streets of
Durban and Johannesburg, attend Y