Next week, the legendary Israeli pioneer, statesman and peace activist Shimon Peres will once again be visiting South Africa, this time as a guest of the IUA-UCF.

The tumultuous events of the past few months, lent an additional degree of importance to this year’s State of the Nation (SONA) address. Amongst those who will have been listening especially carefully were the business and investment community.

We were very satisfied by the Press Ombudsman ruling re the complaint jointly laid last year by the Board and SAZF against The Star. 

Overcoming racism in our society requires legislation, including having in place effective vehicles through which to enforce it. However, while laws and penalties help to discourage the public expression of racist sentiment, they do little to eradicate the underlying prejudice that gives rise to such incidents.

Throughout its history, and particularly since South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994, the SAJBD has been involved in various public policy initiatives aimed at combating all forms of racism, discrimination and the like.

As  South African Jewish citizens, we have an obligation to combine our own specific concerns as a community with active participation in addressing problems facing our country as a whole.

Avi Mayer’s whirlwind visit to South Africa, during which he addressed various communal groups, gave workshops and met with a range of lay and professional leaders concluded this week. We are extremely grateful to him for all his efforts, and for the undiminished enthusiasm and ready helpfulness that he displayed at all times.

Starting next week, we will have the privilege of hosting Avi Mayer, International Spokesperson for the Jewish Agency and world-renowned social media expert, for a week-long visit, during which time he will travel to all the major centres.

On Wednesday International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the eleventh since the United Nations designated 27 January for that purpose, was marked by commemorative events throughout the world.

As featured in last week’s SA Jewish Report issue, preparations are underway to commemorate 175 years of organised Jewish life in South Africa. The Cape Council of the SAJBD is already very active in this regard, given that Cape Town is the ‘Mother community’ of South African Jewry.