Jewish Students and the leaders

Arguably the most traumatic academic year in the history of higher education in this country is drawing to a close, with students around the country – how many, at this stage is uncertain - preparing to sit their exams. I wish all our Jewish students, as well as all other students who will be writing under less than ideal circumstances, success.  

The SA Union of Jewish Students – SAUJS – performs a crucial role in representing the Jewish student body on key university campuses and wherever necessary working with the respective administrations and the SAJBD in addressing problems that arise. I congratulate incoming SAUJS national chairman Gabi Zollman and his committee on their recent election and look forward to working with them in the coming year. I further congratulate and thank immediate past SAUJS chairperson Dani Hovsha for all her outstanding work, including the valuable input she has made at SAJBD Gauteng Council and National Executive Committee meetings.

In addition to broader safety and security challenges, one of the major concerns we have had, has been the potential for the racially-charged rhetoric of the FeesMustFall movement spilling over into overt antisemitism. To an extent, this has occurred on occasion, most recently with the plastering of antisemitic graffiti at Wits earlier this week. We have been in communication with the Wits administration to ensure that the graffiti was removed and steps taken to find the perpetrators and prosecute them. In a press statement, we condemned the racist invective that had often surfaced during the FeesMustFall protests and urged that legitimate causes such as this one not be sullied by hateful rhetoric against other South Africans.

Recent Articles

Anti-Jewish bigotry at University of Pretoria (UP)

Offensive display of Anti-Jewish bigotry University of Pretoria (UP)

For the past few weeks, the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS) at UP have been subjected to a barrage of hostile and discriminatory statements and actions. This culminated today in a sit-in protest aimed to exclude the Jewish Student Representative body from working with the SRC.

SAJBD statement on the passing of the Prevention and Combatting of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill

SAJBD statement on the passing of the Prevention and Combatting of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill in the National Assembly on Tuesday March 14th 2023

Date: 15 March 2023

After over a decade of advocating for hate crimes legislation in our country, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies was delighted that the National Assembly passed the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill yesterday on Tuesday March 14th 2023.

SAJBD partner with Alexandra Chamber of Commerce

On Human Rights Day the SAJBD will be partnering with the Alexandra Chamber of Commerce in arranging a Wellness Day for the children of Alexandra.

The day will include measles vaccines, children’s wellness assessments administered by Workforce, hearing assessments conducted by the SA Association of Audiologists and the distribution of reusable sanitary pads by Fingertips of Africa.

Please join us for this special event.