OPINION

Sixteen times Saffers ignored calls to boycott Israel

Benji Shulman says these calls remain the preserve of a loud, vocal minority, mostly those connected to ANC

Sixteen times Saffers didn’t care about calls to boycott Israel

12 July 2023

It comes as no surprise this week that the peoples club, the Orlando Pirates soccer team rejected calls by the ANC and its satellite organisations to boycott a friendly match against Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv. South Africa and Israeli soccer have a long history together and our footballers are regulars in Israeli teams, including household names like “Terror” Fanteni and Tsepo Masilela. This relationship goes beyond just the pitch, in 2017 soccer legend Jomo Sono entered a business partnership with an Israel television broadcaster to bring an open-access TV technology to the country;

For more than 10 years, the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement has been trying and failing to stop South Africans from connecting with Israel but outside of the ANC alliance it has been slow going. Trade between South Africa and Israel has increased and South Africa remained the top country of origin for tourists visiting Israel from Africa.

South Africans from all walks of life are connected to Israel and choose to visit for religious, cultural, business, innovation and family reasons. Below are 16 other times that South Africans didn’t care about calls to boycott Israel.

1.Former President Nelson Mandela – In 1999, Nelson Mandela decided to visit Israel. Many in his party were opposed to him going. He went anyway, and met several Israeli government ministers. His official visit included a trip to Yad Vashem. He went on to be presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Ben Gurion;

2.DJ Black Coffee – The award-winning international DJ played in Israel for the third time in 2018. He was criticised by the African National Congress (ANC) for doing so, but responded by saying, “Like everyone else, I have rights and free will and, no, Black Coffee isn’t a political party. I work as an entertainer to feed my family. To sum it up, I’ll take a bullet for my family”. He has continued to visit the country since then including recording a video there after winning his emmy.

3. Miss SA Lalela Mswane resisted a concerted campaign by former department of Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to attend the Miss Universe Pageant in Eilat Israel. After deciding to participate anyway, she came second runner up in the competition.

4.HIV prevention – In 2013, the South African health department was investigating an Israeli medical technology called PrePex for safe circumcision and HIV prevention which was far superior to the one being used in South Africa at the time. However, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and BDS were opposed to it in spite of the fact that it had been endorsed by the World Health Organization and the Treatment Action Campaign. “The point isn’t whether this device [PrePex] is the best or not. We are saying there should be a wholesale boycott of all products from Israel, including this one. We cannot have exceptions,” COSATU said. In response, Thobile Mbengashe, the chief director of HIV and AIDS in the health department, urged COSATU to reconsider its stance saying, “We must leave out politics because what’s important right now is saving people’s lives”;

5. Nadine Gordimer – The South African Nobel Prize winner for literature attended the International Writers’ Festival in Jerusalem in 2008. Although considered a critic of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, she faced demands that she not visit the country but she chose to go and call for peace between the parties;

6.Mmusi Maimane – The head of the One South Africa Movement visited Israel while he was leader of the Democratic Alliance in 2017. This angered the ANC and BDS groups, however Maimane said, “The noise shouldn’t be about my visits, it should be about the basis of our foreign policy before banning people from going to other countries”;

7.Former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng – Another South African who has been attacked for his Israel stance is former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who said that he loved Israel because of his Christian faith and that South Africa could play a mediating role between Israel and the Palestinians. After his retirement enjoyed a tour of Israel visiting a number of the holy sites in the country.

8.Clover - Trade Unions, BDS and others tried and failed to prevent a massive foreign direct investment of 4.8 billion Rand into the country. After an Israeli firm consortium Milco took over the Clover dairy company.

9.Universities – The senate of the top university in Africa voted in 2019 to reject a boycott petition by anti-Israel organisations. Meanwhile, the Israeli Arava Institute for Environmental Studies has been working with South African universities to find off-grid solutions for sewage treatment.

10.Bruce Fordyce – The nine-times Comrades winner was pressured by BDS organisations not to run in the Jerusalem Marathon. He ignored them, and reportedly also enjoyed birding and archaeology sites in the country.

11.Woolworths – After fighting between Israel and Hamas took place in 2014, BDS launched a two year-long campaign against Woolworths for selling Israeli tomatoes which involved protesting outside stores. Most notably, at one of the protests, BDS demonstrators placed a pig’s head in what they thought was the kosher section of the store. Israeli tomatoes are still widely sold in South Africa;

12.Anele Mdoda – The 5FM radio host visited Israel in 2018 for a family holiday. After posting pictures of herself on the beach, social media followers commented negatively. She responded by saying, “Israel is beautiful. Please do not post your political babble on my page. I am not saying the politics here are pretty, I’m saying the land is beautiful. Please respect my page and my opinions”;

13.Elon Musk – The richest person in the world who famously doesn't care what anyone thinks, is a regular investor in Israeli companies and has called the country a “technological power”. When he visited ancient mountain fortress of Masada in Israel in 2018, he sent out a tweet saying, “live free or die”;

14.Die Antwoord – Musical and cultural acts often play in Israel. Well known South African rock band Die Antwoord was pressured not to go to Israel in 2018. In response, it issued a cryptic social media video and went on to play to a full house of Israeli fans.

15. Municipalities - In 2022 the BDS movement put out a statement slamming a visit of Israeli water officials to municipalities such has Tshwane and Johannesburg to engage in ways to address the water crisis. The call was not heeded and this week the cooperation was extended to municipalities in KZN and the Western Cape. Cooperation with technology companies has assisted some 500 000 South Africans access clean water at the Sedumo Dam in the North West province.

16.Davis Cup, tennis – In 2018, Israel played South Africa in a Davis Cup tennis tie. BDS tried to block the tournament with a protest but the tournament went ahead. This was followed up with an announcement that South Africa would be playing in Israel in 2022 in the Davis Cup in Tel Aviv.

Calls for boycotts remain the preserve of a loud, vocal minority, mostly those connected to the ANC in South Africa but are not supported by the mainstream of ordinary people in our country.

Benji Shulman is a presenter on radio 101.9 ChaiFM