Seeco betrayed Houghton Golf Club’s foundational kindness

Antisemitism hurts us all, and the bullies who thrive on it must be forced to pay a heavy price. 

One morning, I woke up to the fake and hateful news that a man known as Louis Seeco, who was purported to be a Houghton Golf Club member, had been banned by the club for displaying the Palestinian flag in the parking lot. 

The national TV channel eNCA broke the story and it was then farmed all over social media to cause maximum damage. 

Seeco has never been a member of Houghton Golf Club, which was founded more than 100 years ago by Jewish golfers who were barred from playing on other golf courses because of antisemitism. As a result of this history, kindness is as part of the club as the trees and the grass. It is exactly that generosity Seeco sought to exploit. 

Ten days or so before instigating his babel of hate, he wrote to the club, requesting old golf balls and clubs for a new golf academy to teach young black golfers in the nearby Alexandra township. Houghton members generously donated their used equipment to inspire the dreams of the next generation, so that they too could start a romance with what Harvey Penick, then golf coach at the University of Texas, once described as “the most mysterious, most cerebral, most frustrating and supremely satisfying of all games that can be played by one person alone”. 

I joined the Houghton Golf Club 15 years ago, and seven years later, I was elected to its committee to head up marketing and the recruitment of new members. How Houghton Golf Club transformed itself from near bankruptcy, as South Africa experienced Jewish exodus, to one that returned to its glory of hosting international tournaments, is a success story that should be taught at business schools. The club has since become diverse and a bustling hive of activity, with its facilities hired by people from different backgrounds for weddings, parties, golf days, commercial activities, and much more. 

Within 10 days of fetching the members’ donations, Seeco was back at Houghton Golf Club like an evil spirit, seeking attention, wanting to cause trouble, and counting on the acquiescence that comes from belching the word “Palestine”. He unfolded his flag and went to play. While he was out on the course, someone approached the club’s general manager and complained, citing the club’s rule and custom of non-partisanship. The general manager went outside, folded up the flag, and asked the security guard to alert him when the player returned so he could explain the club’s rules to the man. 

When Seeco came back from his round of golf, and the rules were explained to him, he refused to respect the general manager and used microaggression language, claiming freedom of speech, regardless of the fact that he was on private property. If Seeco was honest then why did he stuff his flag and principles in his back pocket when he came to fetch the donated golf equipment? 

Seeco knew that Houghton members are kind because he has played on this course numerous times before and was treated with utmost respect by the staff, as with all members and their guests. 

It is the black staff members of the golf course who bore the brunt of racist abuses that followed Seeco’s stunt. I was standing at the counter when a man with an Indian accent phoned and started abusing the person manning the front desk. The staff member put the phone on speaker so I could also listen. 

I decided to intervene because I have studied Indian racism and classism, called the caste system. I’ve read Munshi Premchand, the Indian author who opposed the system, and so I knew how to deal with the racist caller. In the caste system, black people are considered the “untouchables”, meaning they are at the bottom of the race pyramid and will be regarded as inferior for as long as they are alive. I dealt with the racist Indian man like a black cat dealing with a racist mouse. Township humour will humble anyone. I gave him a light sprinkling of it. He got spicy as he vomited more racism. 

On Saturday, after confronting Seeco on social media about his dishonesty, I went to play golf at our club. The anger and disappointment of the black staff against him were palpable. 

Golf may be a pastime to most players, but for the staff at a golf club it is a full-time job. If the course closes down, as many have, they lose their jobs. Small wonder they were so angry at lying Louis. 

Blue is the colour of the sky, and white are the clouds of hope, but rain comes from the dark clouds, so let not the flashes of lightning and the explosions of thunder drive us into despair. Something good is about to come down on us, and like the last storm, this too shall pass. Peace is on the horizon and let us dare not allow those who thrive on chaos and corruption obscure its warm rays. 

When you are on the tenth fairway at Houghton Golf Course there are three trees on the right that were planted by a member who has since passed away. His name was Jack Cohen. He was a lawyer. During apartheid he gave the caddies his home number so that should any of them be stopped by the police for passes they could call him at any time. They did, and he kept his promise every time. That is the spirit of Houghton Golf Club, a step into the extraordinary, and an extraordinary Jewish legacy. 

• Muzi Kuzwayo is the chairperson of South Africa’s Promise, a non-profit company that works with young people across the country to help them unleash their potential.