It’s election season

This week brought confirmation of something our community has long been anticipating: 4 November will be election day. Following the watershed national elections of last year, these municipal elections carry a weight that is difficult to overstate. They represent, in my view, one of the most consequential and defining moments of our post-apartheid democracy, a moment in which the choices we make as citizens will shape the character of our cities for years to come. For Johannesburg in particular, the need for inspired, effective, and genuinely pragmatic leadership has never been more urgent. 

As is its long-standing tradition, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) will host its “Great Debates” ahead of the elections. Johannesburg will hold a “Great Joburg Mayoral Debate” in October, and the Cape SAJBD will host its own debate. Both debates promise the robust, rigorous exchanges that have come to define these events. This year, however, the stakes are particularly high. Given how intensely contested these municipal elections are, these debates aren’t merely civic exercises, they are genuine opportunities for our community to interrogate, to question, and to hold those who seek our trust to account. 

Before any of that, the single most important thing we can do right now is to be properly registered to vote. We urge every member of our community to ensure they are registered, and to exercise that right when the time comes. 

We will be running educational programmes, engaging with the various parties, and shortly launching our election observer teams across the country. These teams are something we are genuinely proud of. Notably, the teams are organised and run by the SAJBD, but they have always included other South African communities, because that is precisely what it means to be South African: to be invested in a shared future, and to do the difficult work of democracy together. 

On Tuesday the SAJBD had a very constructive meeting with US Ambassador Leo Bozell III and the US Embassy Human Rights team, to provide insights into antisemitism in South Africa. We were able to share our detailed monitoring structures and the trends we are seeing in South Africa and globally. It was a valuable and encouraging engagement, reminding us that we don’t face these challenges alone, and that our documentation and advocacy work carry real weight internationally.