Lamola 'emboldening anti-Semites' as incidents rocket, says Jewish board

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has called on justice minister Ronald Lamola and the ANC government to stop dismissing anti-Semitism and creating an environment that emboldens anti-Semites.

This follows Lamola's interview on the BBC's HARDtalk, where he was questioned about claims of a rise in anti-Semitism incidents made in an article published by South African Jewish Report.

Lamola said there was no evidence to substantiate allegations of anti-Semitism.

However, the SAJBD said in a statement that to date eight cases have been or are in the process of being lodged with the police.

“They include assault, damage to property and incitement of violence. We are finalising cases which will be brought to the Equality Court,” it said. 

The SAJBD said the minister's stance that any claims of anti-Semitism in South Africa are “not based on any facts” was misleading and disregarded the voices of those affected, namely South African Jews.

In 2023 anti-Semitic incidents in South Africa reached the highest levels since the SAJBD began compiling detailed lists from 1993, it said. The SAJBD alleged that from October to December last year, there were 139 recorded incidents, compared with 19 in the same period in 2022.

It claimed there was also a sharp increase in physical attacks against Jewish people or property, “something which had occurred only rarely in previous years.

“There were six cases of physical assault, whereas the annual average had been only one in the preceding decade. These included two cases of assault outside a Johannesburg synagogue, an attack on a Johannesburg rabbi and a person being hit over the head with a pole at a pro-Palestine rally in Cape Town.

“The vandalism included damage and desecration of Jewish cemeteries in Pretoria and Durban.”

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