Party goes on at Castle despite antisemitic hate

South Africans in Cape Town have once again defied the local hate movement that wants to exclude Jews from society. A music event went ahead at the Castle of Good Hope (the Castle) on Saturday, 24 January, despite extremists trying to have it cancelled because the organiser and main DJ was born in Israel and once hosted an event there. 

The Cape Town party, called “Yalla Valhalla” not only went ahead without a hitch, it had its highest-ever number of attendees. Extremists were targeting organiser Dino Ben Tovim, who was born in Israel but grew up in Cape Town and sees himself as South African. 

“I’m apolitical; my company is 100% South African; I pay taxes; I support the local market; I provide jobs; and my team is all South African,” says Ben Tovim, who goes by the stage name Ben Tov. “I would like to see peace in the Middle East.” But for the extremists, his Israeli roots meant he has no place here. 

Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape SAJBD) Executive Director Daniel Bloch says the Cape SAJBD strongly condemns the “targeting and harassment” of Ben Tovim “because of his national origin”. Ben Tovim is “a proud South African who has performed at the Castle for years without incident”, says Bloch. “The sudden campaign against him constitutes blatant national-origin discrimination and thinly veiled antisemitism.” 

Says Bloch, “attempts to exclude an artist based on who he is rather than anything he has done have nothing to do with human rights. These actions amount to intimidation masquerading as moral activism. The claims made against him are unsubstantiated, selective, and entirely lacking in credibility.” 

At no point did the extremists ask Ben Tovim what his political opinions are, yet they branded him and his event as “supporting genocide”. Outside, one woman, who is Jewish, held a sign calling the event a “Nazi party”, complete with a swastika superimposed over a Star of David. Another smiled while waving a sign saying, “Zionists get out”; and a third person held an image of a juice box with the words “Zionist Tears”; “100% f*ck Israel”; and “free Palestine”. The juice box is used among extremists as code for “Jews” as the words sound similar. 

Their naked hatred didn’t deter hundreds of local and international partygoers, who filled the venue. The extremists admitted in a social media post that they had convinced only one French couple not to attend. The rest of the partygoers ignored them. 

“The targeting of this party because its organiser is a Jewish Israeli is discriminatory, plain and simple,” says Rolene Marks, spokesperson for the South African Zionist Federation. “This isn’t principled protest, but the weaponisation of culture to single out Israelis  – and by extension Jews – for exclusion and collective blame. 

“Demonising identity, mocking Zionists, and asserting that Israelis have no place in cultural or social spaces crosses a clear line from political criticism to bigotry,” says Marks. “While these activists are loud, they are also ineffective. Most South Africans don’t support cultural boycotts or the importation of foreign conflicts, and they reject attempts to police who is allowed to belong.” 

Ben Tovim says the extremists’ accusations are false. His company is in no way Israeli, and the one event he hosted in Israel wasn’t backed by him financially. The party at the Castle wasn’t an Israeli event in any way. Furthermore, it was completely apolitical. 

He says the protest wasn’t peaceful. “They harassed people, screaming and swearing at them.” 

Ben Tovim says he just wants to give people a good time. “Everything I do is about a love for music and creating connections. Everyone is welcome, and we even have attendees from Middle Eastern countries.” 

The continuation of the party is yet another failure for local extremists, who in December last year, wanted a Kirstenbosch concert by local musician David Scott, known as The Kiffness, cancelled because Scott criticises radical Islam and terrorism. Both events went ahead at state-run venues. 

Earlier in January, South African youth counter-protested outside Cape Union Mart at the V&A Waterfront, confronting the extremists’ narrative. After the Kirstenbosch concert and the Cape Union Mart counter-protest, hundreds of South Africans on social media expressed their support for standing up to hate. 

Ben Tovim has been hosting Yalla Valhalla at the Castle of Good Hope and other venues in Cape Town since 2023, but this is the first time it has been the object of protest. Extremists also said the event was problematic because the Castle is a heritage site with a history of colonialism and apartheid, and a party shouldn’t be held there. 

However, the Castle has hosted electronic parties; international DJs; live concerts, LGBTQI+ events; brand launches; fashion shows; corporate functions; private parties; commercial functions; and nightlife, all without protests. This has established it as a regularly hired, multi-purpose events venue, not solely a heritage or ceremonial site. In fact, on its website, the Castle is advertised as being open to all events, including “party-revellers”. 

Ben Tovim says that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Castle was struggling financially. A homeless camp nearby also deterred visitors. But it didn’t deter him, and he started hosting events there, which brought in much-needed funds for the site. It also led others to host events there. 

A local woman told the SA Jewish Report she attended Yalla Valhalla last year and this year. Speaking anonymously for her own safety, she says that even after a protester tried to convince her not to attend, she simply didn’t see what the problem was. 

“I don’t think the event organiser being Israeli impacts anyone, unless they promoted the war at the party, which they didn’t. As a Christian, I have nothing against other people’s religions. I just went for the music.” 

Another partygoer attended the event to support Ben Tovim, who is a friend, and to have a night out. Also speaking anonymously for his own security, he says, “It’s unfair to hold a private individual born in Israel responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, just as the Muslim community in Cape Town isn’t responsible for the actions of Hamas. As a German [who lives in South Africa], I know that creating concepts of ‘the enemy’ and building walls between people is dangerous.” 

He has close friends in both the Jewish and Muslim communities, and believes “we should focus on humanity and kindness rather than deepening divides”. 

The man runs a popular social media account, “and we had people unfollow us because I attended [the event], which I think illustrates how polarised people have become”. Attending a party to support a friend “doesn’t mean one supports violence or war”, he says, “it just means we refuse to let politics dictate our personal relationships”.