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Reinstating tennis fixture not the same as restoring trust
What began as a routine school tennis fixture has exposed something far more disquieting. Roedean’s refusal to play a scheduled match against King David’s girls’ tennis team raised serious questions about discrimination, honesty, and accountability in elite South African schooling.
Roedean’s initial public explanation was that the match couldn’t proceed because of a scheduling conflict. That account didn’t survive scrutiny. Recordings and communication that entered the public domain demonstrated that the true reason for the refusal was pressure placed on Roedean to boycott King David because King David is a Jewish school. Communications between senior staff at the two schools made this plain.
When the King David team arrived at Roedean, they were turned away at the door despite having been told on the day that the match would go ahead. A teacher who accompanied the team described how humiliating this experience was for the students. Young girls who had trained, travelled, and arrived in good faith were excluded at the gate based on who they were.
That conduct constituted clear antisemitic discrimination. The subsequent denial of what occurred compounded the harm by attempting to conceal it.
Roedean has now issued a written apology to King David. In that letter, the school acknowledges that its actions “were deeply hurtful to the Jewish community and sincerely apologise”. It further concedes that “communication challenges … were not the cause of the cancellation of the match, as Roedean originally understood and communicated”, and states that this has become clear from its “ongoing independent investigations”.
The apology is significant. It amounts to an acknowledgement that the original public explanation was incorrect. Roedean also states that it “unequivocally rejects antisemitism and all forms of discrimination”, and that such attitudes have no place in the school.
That’s the right starting point, and may have saved Roedean from being taken to the Equality Court for unfair discrimination on the grounds of belief and religion. Roedean states that independent investigations are ongoing, and that it is committed to “further addressing this matter and learning from it”. That process must be genuinely independent and comprehensive. Where institutional blind spots or external pressures are at play, internal reflection is rarely sufficient.
Roedean should take this moment not merely to apologise, but to lead. It ought to invite respected members of the Jewish community to speak to students about the Israel–Gaza war; the atrocities of 7 October 2023; the broader historical context of the conflict; and the immense contribution Jews have made to building South Africa and Roedean. Education, not silence, is the antidote to prejudice.
The school would do well to undertake a careful and principled inquiry into whether antisemitic or anti-Zionist sentiment is present among parents, students, or staff. If such views exist, they must be surfaced and addressed through open dialogue rather than allowed to fester beneath the surface. A school committed to dignity and equality cannot shy away from uncomfortable conversations; it must create the conditions in which they can be confronted with honesty and respect.
Concern is heightened by Roedean’s former association with the Ummah Al-Rahma madrasah to provide its religious programming – Ummah Heart – which publicly expressed support for Hamas following the attacks of 7 October. The influence of organisations that take such positions cannot be treated as irrelevant in a context where Jewish students were excluded from sporting participation.
The schools have indicated that they will work together to reschedule the match. That’s appropriate. Sport should unite rather than divide. But restoring a fixture isn’t the same as restoring trust.
This matter isn’t about a single cancelled tennis match. It’s about whether South Africa’s leading schools are prepared to uphold the constitutional values of equality and dignity when doing so is uncomfortable. It’s about whether antisemitism is confronted honestly or quietly rationalised. And it’s about whether institutions entrusted with the education of young people understand that discrimination, particularly when dressed up as something else, corrodes not only those who are excluded, but the moral credibility of the institution itself.
- Mark Oppenheimer is a practising advocate and member of the Johannesburg Bar.
Colleen Churcher
February 13, 2026 at 7:26 pm
I am not a young person and not Jewish but previously have read extensively about the 2nd World War and never in my wildest dreams thought it be repeated.but once again it has raised the disgusting discrimination. I am ashamed of Rodean a so called upper class school,parents and staff and hope that they live to regret their actions. How can they ever again hold up their heads proudly if they ever had a conscience at some time in their lives
Marie Bickof
February 13, 2026 at 7:48 pm
Antisemitism against King David because it is a Jewish school is not new. I remember in 1986 when my son was in Form 3 and they went to play rugby against a school somewhere in the Southern Suburbs, all the opposing team came on to the field wearing a swastika inked on to the corner of the collar of their shirts. The KD ream were somewhat shocked and Warren Kaufman immediately started attacking them verbally about being antisemites and refusing to play against the team. With that the KD team walked off the field. The two managers of the team had words [ I don’t remember what was said and the KD team refused to play unless the other team removed their shirts and put on clean ones and then they would play but that never happened. What was embarrassing for the other team was that the Headmistress of that school was Jewish and she did not know how to apologise enough to Elliot Wolf and others about the incident.
There was also an incident with another rugby team and a school in Edenvale over antisemitism but I do not remember those details.
Andrew Smith
February 13, 2026 at 8:54 pm
Totally unacceptable decision,a full open investigation needs to be done, obviously certain people involved must be antisemetic and this influences the students thoughts and borders on indoctrination,heads need to roll and follow up discussions with the schools students has to take place to negate the damage done.
David
February 13, 2026 at 11:52 pm
Imo children are not causing the problem, but rather the adults are. If children are allowed to decide and play and interact, they will learn about each other as individuals and understand better about the issues surrounding the cultural and religious differences, rather than merely being indoctrinated pawns.
Susan Hurrie
February 14, 2026 at 11:21 am
It’s with strong sense of relief that I read this article of apology and a promise of going forward with this ..
Not only from a position of pride knowing you’ll probably set a pattern for others who are not courageous enough to stand for what is right , but because it holds to values that our children need to learn from ..You do it for them ..
And for adults that need to know and understand what is a actually going on here , ( perhaps study something of Israel and the plight of the Jews ,) and the depths of despair it causes for societies of Jews all over the world .
It stands out like a beacon of hope ..
Thanking God in all things ,
Susan Hurrie
smoconnor7@gmail.com.
Rachel Puterman
February 14, 2026 at 12:49 pm
Exvellently articulated. I endorse the ideas and sentiments expressed
Helena Finley
February 14, 2026 at 1:37 pm
Politics Do Not Belong in Sport!
Sport has always carried a quiet power: it brings people together without asking them to agree first. Before ideology, before language, before borders, there is the simple human act of playing, competing, and striving side by side. That is why politics do not belong in sport—and why, if we genuinely want peaceful change, we should let the youth of the world commingle as freely as possible on playing fields, in locker rooms, and on global stages of competition.
I hold this view with a particularly personal lens. As a South African swimmer, I was denied the opportunity to compete in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games because South Africa was excluded from international sport under apartheid. While the political intent behind that decision is understandable in historical context, the lived reality for athletes was profoundly different. We were young competitors who had trained our entire lives for the chance to stand on the world stage—yet we were barred not for our actions, beliefs, or values, but for the passport we carried. Sport did not change the political system by excluding us; it simply removed one of the most powerful forums for human connection and understanding.
The opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics offered a perfect artistic illustration of why inclusion matters. Music, movement, and storytelling emphasized shared humanity over division. Athletes from countries with long, complicated political histories stood only feet apart, united not by policy but by purpose. For a few hours, the world was reminded that cooperation does not require uniformity—only respect.
Sport accomplishes something politics rarely can: it humanizes “the other.” When young athletes train together, compete against one another, and celebrate excellence regardless of nationality, they build relationships that ideology alone cannot undo. A competitor is no longer an abstraction or a headline; they are a teammate, a rival, a friend. This is how peace actually starts—not through slogans, but through proximity.
That message was echoed powerfully by two women from southern Africa who spoke about the Olympic movement: Charlize Theron and Kirsty Coventry. Though their backgrounds differ—Theron as a South African global advocate, Coventry as a decorated Olympian from neighboring Zimbabwe—their perspectives converged on a shared truth. Sport, when left unpoliticized, teaches fairness, discipline, mutual respect, and dignity. These values quietly undermine division far more effectively than exclusion ever can.
When politics intrude into sport, neutrality erodes. Athletes become symbols instead of individuals. Competitions become proxy battlegrounds. The very spaces designed to foster connection turn into arenas of exclusion. This is not only unfair to athletes, who dedicate their lives to excellence, but also counterproductive to the goal of lasting change.
Youth sport, in particular, should be fiercely protected. Children who grow up competing internationally learn early that talent is universal, effort is respected everywhere, and character matters more than origin. A child who has shared a lane, a rink, or a field with someone from another country is far less likely to accept simplistic narratives of “us versus them” later in life.
Exclusion may feel like action, but inclusion creates transformation.
If we are serious about peaceful change, we should stop asking athletes to carry political messages and start doing something far more effective: let them play. Let them meet. Let them compete. Let them see one another as humans first.
The Olympics—at their best—remind us of what the world can look like when sport is allowed to be what it was always meant to be: a common language in a divided world.
Roedean Old Girl, Helena Pirow Finley, Feb 2026
Denise Smit
February 15, 2026 at 7:24 am
Please report them to the Human Rights Council. The anti-semitism in SA and the world is getting out control and the support of terrorist and countries funding terrorism by SA.
Gail Rossini
February 15, 2026 at 10:44 am
As a retired teacher, I was shocked and horrified to have heard about this incident at a ‘reputable’ private school. Shame on them. Well done to the King David staff that took a stand.
Brenda Kruger
February 15, 2026 at 6:00 pm
You can’t go back on what happened.
Ian Levinson
February 16, 2026 at 4:39 pm
Reinstating a tennis fixture after slamming the gates shut on Jewish kids isn’t reconciliation—it’s damage control dressed up as sportsmanship. Trust isn’t restored by a token match; it’s shattered by blatant discrimination, and no amount of PR spin can plaster over the stench of hypocrisy.