Mailbox: The royal handshake: How Jewish goodness bridges South Africa’s pain
Key topics:
Jewish solidarity from apartheid to today’s flood relief in Eastern Cape
Israel partners with traditional leaders to aid disaster-hit communities
Call for South Africa to choose compassion over politics and division
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By Thabelo Mahangani
In a nation where the cries of the poor too often echo unanswered, South Africans are learning once again that compassion does not always come from the hands of those in power. While our government drags its feet in disaster response and remains distracted by foreign political obsessions, the Jewish people, both within South Africa and in Israel, continue to act with a selfless devotion to humanity.
This is not new. It is a continuation of a legacy stretching back through South Africa’s struggle against apartheid, when Jews, though classified as “white” under the racist system, chose solidarity with the oppressed. It is a story of courage, sacrifice, and enduring goodness, one that today is being repeated in the Eastern Cape as Jewish communities and the State of Israel step forward to assist families devastated by floods while our own leaders hesitate.
The Jewish Role in South Africa’s Freedom Struggle
History has not been kind to the memory of Jewish involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle. While today the loudest voices accuse Israel of apartheid, they conveniently ignore the fact that South African Jews were among the fiercest opponents of apartheid itself.
Denis Goldberg, the youngest accused in the 1964 Rivonia Trial, stood alongside Nelson Mandela, sentenced to life imprisonment. For 22 years he sat in prison, branded a traitor by the apartheid state, but to the oppressed majority he was a brother. Others like Joe Slovo, Ruth First, Helen Suzman, and Harry Schwarz defied both the regime and social expectation, campaigning loudly for justice when silence was safer. Some paid with exile, others with their lives.
Allegedly, when Mandela was released from Robben Island, it was a Jewish family that offered him sanctuary in his first days of freedom, a quiet act of hospitality that symbolised a community’s long resistance to injustice.
This Jewish legacy in South Africa’s freedom struggle is not an anecdote. It is proof that the Jewish people have always chosen the side of justice, even when it meant alienation, persecution, and sacrifice.
From Apartheid to Flood Relief: Jewish Compassion Endures
Fast forward to 2025, and the Jewish people in South Africa continue to carry this legacy through practical compassion. From soup kitchens to education initiatives, Jewish organisations sustain vulnerable communities where the state fails.
This was made painfully clear between June and July 2025, when heavy rainfall unleashed devastating floods in the Eastern Cape. Over one hundred lives were lost, thousands displaced, and hunger hung like a dark cloud over the AbaThembu and AmaMpondo communities. As homes washed away and essentials were destroyed, government officials hesitated. Relief was delayed. Promises were announced, then forgotten.
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But Jewish hands did not hesitate. Soup kitchens and feeding schemes supported by the Jewish community were among the first to respond, bringing hot meals, supplies, and dignity to those who had lost everything.
This local effort was soon joined by an international one, as the State of Israel itself extended a hand of solidarity.
Israel’s Royal Welcome in the Eastern Cape
In August 2025, David Saranga, Head of the Digital Diplomacy Division at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made history with his visit to the Eastern Cape. Accompanied by Dr. Troy Meyers of the Khoisan and representatives of Israel’s embassy, Saranga embarked on a journey not of politics, but of people.
His path took him to the AmaNtshangase, where he was warmly received by Chief Inkosi Enkulu Bhekabambo ‘Ngubesizwe’ Ntola and Silosohlanga ka Dakhile of the AmaMpondo Kingdom in Bizana. He then travelled to Mthatha to meet King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo of the AbaThembu. These encounters were not ceremonial niceties, they were living proof of an ancient truth: that respect and compassion are the real currency of diplomacy.
In heartfelt gatherings rich with tradition, the Eastern Cape kings welcomed Israel not as a stranger but as a friend. Together they launched the Kuyaqhutywa Re Ya Pele campaign, a joint initiative aimed at empowering traditional communities with tools for sustainable development.
Saranga also visited the very sites where floods had wreaked havoc, pledging $10,000 through MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation — to support Queen Nokwanda Dalindyebo’s soup kitchens and feeding stations. His words carried both humility and faith:
“I came here as a symbol of the long-standing friendship between the Royal families of the Eastern Cape and the people of Israel, and with a commitment to find ways we can work together for the well-being of our communities. As it is written in the Book of Isaiah, ‘Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.’ One of the values that defines us as Israelis is what we call in Kabbalah Tikkun Olam—the drive to help others and make the world a better place.”
His message was simple: the Jewish heart is driven not by politics but by covenant, by the biblical call to heal, defend, and uplift.
A King’s Integrity
In a time when South African elites are quick to join global campaigns that demonize Israel, the words of King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo stood as a rebuke to hypocrisy. When pressed to criticise Israel, he responded with honesty and moral clarity:
“It would be unholy for me to reject anything that is being given to the people… if it’s being given to the people, mine is to accept on behalf of the people. The assistance that we are getting is assistance in dire need by the people.”
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The King’s statement was not only a declaration of gratitude — it was a defence of dignity. While government promises of relief had gone undelivered for two months, it was Israel’s aid that reached the hungry and displaced. To reject such help would not only be foolish, it would be immoral.
Here, in the voice of a Xhosa monarch, the ancient partnership between Israel and Africa was reaffirmed: compassion is holy, and antisemitism has no place where suffering demands action.
A Small People with a Great Heart
South Africa’s Jewish community numbers only about 50,000. Yet their impact on the nation is disproportionate to their size. From hospitals to schools, legal aid to disaster relief, Jewish organisations quietly weave threads of hope through communities forgotten by the state.
Globally, Israel has pioneered technologies in water conservation, agriculture, and medical innovation, fields where South Africa desperately needs renewal. With youth unemployment at crisis levels and an economy struggling under corruption, closer partnership with Israel could bring solutions we cannot afford to ignore.
It is a bitter irony that while South Africa’s leaders court Hamas and repeat the propaganda of the Muslim Brotherhood, it is Israel that feeds our poor, supports our kings, and invests in our communities.
Choosing Blessing Over Hatred
The Jewish story in South Africa is not one of conquest or domination. It is a story of solidarity, compassion, and enduring hope. From Rivonia to the floods of the Eastern Cape, from Ruth First to David Saranga, the Jewish people have consistently stood where humanity demanded courage.
South Africans must ask: will we continue to allow antisemitism to poison our public life, or will we recognise the hands that feed us, comfort us, and partner with us?
The King of the AbaThembu has shown the way. To accept help in the name of the people is not betrayal; it is wisdom. To welcome Israel is not political; it is holy.
If South Africa chooses love over hate, gratitude over propaganda, and friendship over division, then perhaps, just perhaps, we will find that the same hands which fed our people in the flood will also help us rebuild a nation of justice, dignity, and hope.
*Mahangani Thabelo is a multifaceted individual known for his work as a biologist, human rights activist, and former student leader at the university of the Witwatersrand. he is also recognized as a Pentecostal scholar and a vocal pro-Israel advocate. he engages in discussions about religious freedom, regional security, and the rise of extremism in Africa and the middle east.