Jewish role models linked to 16 June 1976

Next week, South Africa marks the 50th anniversary of the 16 June Soweto Uprising, a day that is a defining part of the moral architecture of this country’s history. 

Few in our community are aware that one of our own is woven into that story, not at its periphery, but at its heart. 

Dr Melville Edelstein was a Jewish social worker who had dedicated his professional life to black South African communities. On 16 June 1976, he was in Soweto to host the official opening of a branch of his Sheltered Workshop Programme in Orlando East, a project designed to create employment for people with disabilities. When police opened fire on pupils and shock turned to fury across the township, Edelstein ensured that some of his colleagues were moved to safety, and then made a fatal decision to return and check on the safety of other colleagues. He was mistakenly killed in the chaos. 

The tragedy of Dr Edelstein’s story is made more bitter by the fact that, having dedicated his life to the people of Soweto, he was killed in exactly the violence that he had tried so hard to prevent. 

Forty years after his death, on 16 June 2016, a memorial was unveiled in his honour in Soweto, and his grandson had his Barmitzvah at the very site where Edelstein was killed. This was an exceptionally moving event, officiated by Board member Rabbi Dovid Hazdan. 

A second notable Jewish connection to 16 June comes in the form of the Morris Isaacson High School, one of the key institutions involved on the day. Morris Isaacson was a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania, who was a well-known trade unionist, businessman, and philanthropist. In his later years, Isaacson was instrumental in supporting black education. In addition to the establishment of the Mavis Isaacson Hall in Moroka, named for his late wife, he created a trust and a foundation that granted hundreds of bursaries to black students. The work of the foundation led to the building of the Morris Isaacson Primary School in 1953 and, two years later, the famous Morris Isaacson High School. 

Significantly, Isaacson himself passed away in 1953 and never saw the establishment of the school, never mind the historic place it would play in the history of South Africa, or the famous alumni it would produce, including activists Murphy Morobe, Tsietsi Mashinini, and Abram Onkgopotse Tiro. 

Edelstein and Isaacson’s names are connected to the events of 1976, but more significantly, they serve as examples, as dugmot ishit, of what it means to dedicate a life to the service of others, and powerful testament to our community’s long and sometimes overlooked place in the fabric of this country. 

On Monday, South African Jewish Board of Deputies national director Wendy Kahn attended a sitting of the House of Commons at Westminster. During the session, a question was raised about the targeting of actress Helen Mirren in a viral social media clip, in which she was abused as a Zionist. 

Member of Parliament Oliver Dowden responded by stating that the attack on Mirren was not directed at her alone, but at what he called “our shared values … of freedom of speech and freedom of expression”. Security Minister Dan Jarvis, for his part, acknowledged the priority his government attaches to combatting antisemitism. 

The person who raised the question spoke about the continuous targeting of anyone who maintains any relationship with Israel. Here in South Africa we have witnessed a very similar pattern of intimidation and antagonism directed at anyone who would publicly identify as a Zionist. And it demands the same clarity of response, whether it occurs in the United Kingdom or in our own backyard. 

If you witness or are victim to antisemitism, please report it to our Antisemitism Hotline: 078 259 4147.