Ravaged by Covid and conflict, South Africa’s Jews unite in compassion

While most countries deal with Delta, South Africans have also endured social unrest. The Jewish community has rallied on both fronts, reports GILLIAN KLAWANSKY

YOU’D BE HARD-PRESSED to find a Jew in South Africa who doesn’t know another Jew who has succumbed to the illness or at least been infected by it – that is if they haven’t tested positive themselves. Since the start of the pandemic, the Jewish community has endured more than 200 Covid deaths and thousands of infections.

Many of these have occurred during the country’s third wave, which peaked at a record daily high of 26,000-plus cases. Johannesburg, where most of the country’s Jewish population of approximately 52,000 lives, has been at the centre of this latest Covid storm, driven largely by the dreaded Delta variant.

With more than 2.3 million cases in the country to date, an almost-certainly under-reported death toll of 68,192 (as of last night) and a painfully slow vaccine rollout, frustrations have run high. South Africa is the most affected country on the African continent and according to the latest available statistics, its vaccination rate has reached only 8.5 doses per 100 citizens.

In the face of this crisis, South Africa’s Chief Rabbi, Warren Goldstein, took to mainstream media to write an opinion piece berating the government for this slow rollout. Speaking of the devastation of the third wave, Goldstein suggested the President and his cabinet “atone” for their negligence and step up their vaccine efforts.

“This public health crisis could have been averted had President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government handled the vaccine rollout effectively,” he wrote in the Business Day newspaper.

This hard-hitting piece sparked mixed reactions in the Jewish community. Many were concerned about a backlash over a Jewish leader criticising an anti-Israel government, while others praised Goldstein for challenging our leaders to do better.

There is widespread anxiety over the slow pace of the rollout. Although vaccine hesitancy is a factor among the broader population, the anxiety in the Jewish community has been around not being able to access the vaccine.