Scramble to remedy road rage damage

The fallout from Rodney Plett’s vulgar, racist tirade against Muslim motorist Abdur Rahmaan Aziz continues. Lawyers from both sides are engaging, Plett has admitted he was wrong, and communal leaders are warning against using the incident to demonise the community. 

Plett told the SA Jewish Report this week that he had consulted his attorneys on Monday, 28 September, and they had met with Aziz’s attorneys on Tuesday to discuss a way forward. “We are waiting for their response.” 

Plett said, “I did what I did. I was very angry. I made an error. I made a mistake. I lost my temper. I was incorrect in insulting him and therefore I apologised.” 

He said he has not returned to shul since the outburst and is waiting for things to settle down. 

Plett issued an apology shortly before Shabbat and the start of Sukkot on Friday, 25 September, just days after footage of the confrontation went viral. 

Plett took responsibility for his conduct, saying the circumstances leading up to the confrontation did not excuse what followed. “I have watched the video. I am ashamed of what I see, and I am truly sorry,” he said. 

“I am not going to try to explain those words away. Nothing makes them acceptable.” 

Plett also apologised for invoking the Israel-Gaza war during the confrontation. 

“I was angry, and I reached for the thing I knew would hurt most,” he said. “I took that pain and threw it at a stranger in the street as if it were a weapon.” 

He apologised to Aziz, Muslim South Africans, and the Jewish community. “I know that saying sorry is not enough. I intend to show by how I live from now on that I mean it.” 

Rabbi Mordechai Rodal of Chabad of Norwood, outside of which the incident took place, told congregants that the episode had been painful and embarrassing but should become a moment of communal introspection. 

“This week was not easy for any of us,” Rodal said. “We saw a video of one of our own directing racist abuse towards a Muslim person.” 

 “I’m sure every Jewish person who watched it had the same reaction: we cringed. We felt embarrassed. We were appalled.” 

Rodal told congregants that this instinctive revulsion itself said something important. “I think we should cherish that reaction. It shows who we are at our core. We are a nation that believes in peace, embraces peace, and pursues peace.” 

The rabbi warned of the extraordinary reach of individual behaviour in the social media age. “Every action creates a ripple,” he said. “One person’s behaviour can suddenly become associated with an entire community.” 

That, he said, also presented an opportunity. “If one negative action can travel so far, imagine how far one positive action can travel.” 

Rodal told the SA Jewish Report that despite reaching out to Aziz several times, with the hope of meeting him for coffee, Aziz had not yet responded. 

Shortly after the confrontation, Rodal had spoken to Aziz, condemned Plett’s behaviour, and made it clear that it did not represent the values of his congregation or the wider Jewish community. 

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) says it has been monitoring the fallout and warned against attempts to transform the actions of one Jewish man into an indictment of South African Jewry. 

“We have noted the very warm response to Rabbi Rodal’s forthright condemnation of the event and his reaching out to Mr Aziz,” the Board said. “There has also been appreciation that the SAJBD has spoken out against these utterances.” 

However, it said it had also witnessed “some attempt to broaden this from an individual racist incident to demonise the Jewish community”. 

“We have seen this on social media and in the traditional media.” 

The SAJBD said it had, in particular, responded to what it described as a “deeply offensive article” by Ebrahim Fakir in the Mail & Guardian, and said it would also respond to a radio broadcast it believed had “crossed the line”. 

“We reject all attempts to exploit this incident into an attack against South African Jewry,” the SAJBD said. 

It echoed Rodal’s call for something constructive to emerge from the debacle, saying Johannesburg should “use this opportunity for bridge-building going forward”. 

The saga began on Yom Kippur afternoon, 21 September, following a road rage incident between Plett and Aziz in Norwood. 

The men gave differing accounts of what precipitated the confrontation. Plett previously told the SA Jewish Report that he was driving towards Chabad of Norwood, where he was due to perform security duty, when he believed Aziz had nearly collided with him, driving at speed and failing to indicate he was turning. 

Footage filmed by Aziz outside the shul showed Plett making racial slurs and remarks referring to the war in Gaza. The footage spread across social media. Chabad of Norwood and the SAJBD immediately condemned Plett’s actions. 

Aziz subsequently went to Norwood police station to lay charges against Plett. The matter has since moved into the hands of lawyers representing both men. 

The controversy widened further on the weekend when the African National Congress (ANC) parliamentary Caucus entered the fray, issuing a statement condemning what it called the “racist and Islamophobic verbal abuse” directed at Aziz. The ANC described the incident as a reminder of the continuing threat posed by racism and bigotry in South Africa. 

For Rodal, however, the challenge now is what happens after the outrage. 

In his Sukkot sermon, he cautioned congregants that condemning Plett’s behaviour should not become licence to destroy the man himself. 

“We can and must condemn the behaviour,” he said. “But there is a difference between saying, ‘What this person did was wrong’ and turning that into an opportunity to attack the person, spread unnecessary details, ridicule them, or destroy their character.” 

His message was unequivocal: racism had to be rejected, but the community also had to decide what it would do with the moment. 

“One person can change the way the world sees every one of us,” Rodal said. “And any one of us can be that person. 

“Let’s ensure our ripple is always a good one.”