SA Jewish Board of Deputies dismisses Justice Minister's claims of no antisemitism in SA

The Justice Minister seemed entirely confident in his claims that 'there is no anti-semitism in South Africa against the Jewish people' when he spoke to the BBC's Hard Talk this week.

Ronald Lamola was being questioned by host Stephen Sackur about the country's genocide case against Israel presented to the International Court of Justice.

Sackur suggested that statistics show an increase in anti-semitism since October 7, to which the Minister replied, 'No, there is no such'.

Professor Karen Milner is the National Chairperson at the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.

She says that one of the board's duties is to monitor incidents of anti-semitism and says the figures show a 'massive' spike since October 7.

'We have seen something like a 600% increase in anti-semetic incidents.'

Professor Karen Milner, National Chairperson - South African Jewish Board of Deputies

'I'm not sure what data Minister Lamola was using but it wasn't any kind of factual data'

Professor Karen Milner, National Chairperson - South African Jewish Board of Deputies

'[Incidents] range from things like graffiti on a synagogue ...through to actual acts of physical violence, and unfortunately for the first time in South Africa we've seen an increase in actual violence'

Professor Karen Milner, National Chairperson - South African Jewish Board of Deputies

According to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research the core Jewish population in South Africa is approximately 51,000.