This Friday, 26 June 2015, marks the sixtieth anniversary of the famous Congress of the People in Kliptown, Soweto, where delegates from around the country adopted the Freedom Charter as the basis for a future democratic, non-racial South Africa. On Tuesday, at the Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre,the SAJBD held a special commemorative function for the Jewish community to celebrate this milestone event. Speakers included former President Kgalema Motlanthe and veteran anti-apartheid activist Leon Levy who, on behalf of the trade unions, had been one of the five original signatories to the Charter. SAJBD President Zev Krengel introduced and closed the event and a message was brought by Johannesburg Executive Mayor Parks Tau. Levy described his involvement in the countrywide process of consultation that preceded the drafting of the Charter, and his memories of the Kliptown gathering. Motlanthe paid tribute to the many members of the Jewish community who had devoted themselves to the fight for justice in South Africa, commenting that their historical experiences of persecution had given them a heightened awareness of the need to confront injustice wherever it occurred.
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