Encyclopaedia JudaicaLegal and Social Status.
Jews in South Africa 02: Status questions
Emancipation with the Whites - the black and native peoples are never mentioned
from: South Africa; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 15
presented by Michael Palomino (2008 / 2010)
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[Emancipation with the Whites]
As an integral part of the white population, Jews have full equality and participate in all aspects of South Africa's national, political, civic, economic, and cultural life.
[[The blacks and natives don't have these rights...]]
Although the usual forms of anti-Jewish prejudice in gentile societies are occasionally encountered, both of the main white population groups - (col. 188)
the English-speaking and the Afrikaans-speaking (the Boers) - remain faithful, generally speaking, to the traditions of religious tolerance which characterized the homelands - England and the Netherlands - from which their forefathers came. Nevertheless, there have been periods when Jews faced special problems which arose, in particular, from the complex racial and political tensions of the country.
[1864-1902: Waiting for a liberal religious policy in the Boer Transvaal Republic - delegate posts, professions and state schools only for Protestants - no comparison to the czarist persecution of the Jews in Russia]
There were exceptional periods when the status of Jews was challenged. While the Cape was under the control of the Dutch East India Company prior to 1795 (see above), and all in the Company's service had to profess the Christian Reformed religion, there could be no professing Jews in the country until a liberal religious policy was introduced. Thereafter, however, whether in the British or the Boer territories, Jews enjoyed religious tolerance and freedom of conscience. Indeed, a notably sympathetic attitude was shown by the Boers toward the early Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.
The situation in the Boer Transvaal Republic, however, differed from that in the Orange Free State, where full equality was enjoyed by the Jews. The Grondwet (constitution) of the Transvaal Republic (1864; reaffirmed in 1896) stipulated that membership of the Volksraad (parliament) and also the holding of official positions in the state service, were to be restricted to Christian Protestants. Catholics and also Jews, were consequently debarred from military posts and from the offices of the presidency, state secretary, and Landdrost, nor could they become members of the first or second Volksraad or superintendents of the natives or of mines. These disabilities applied even to individuals who had become burghers of the republic.
There were also educational disabilities: as education had to be based on a strictly Christian Protestant religious foundation, Catholic and Jewish children were debarred from attending government schools and their parochial schools were denied state aid. These disabilities did not arise from express anti-Jewish motives, but flowed from the rather harsh Calvinist constitution of the republic.
In the last years of the republic, Jewish deputations to the government sought to have them removed, but without success. Eventually in 1899, President Kruger tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Volksraad to replace the requirement of the Grondwet that all members of the Raad must be Protestant by a provision that they must "believe in the revelation of God through His Word in the Bible". The Jews in the Transvaal reacted variously to these disabilities which were also somewhat obscured by the fact that the Jews were in most cases foreigners (uitlanders) with their own far-reaching grievances.
Such limitations also did not weigh much upon the relatively recent arrivals from Eastern Europe, who appreciated their situation in the Boer republic, so markedly in contrast to the oppressive conditions of czarist Russia.
All the disabilities disappeared when the Transvaal republic came under British rule in 1902. Thereafter, whether under the colonial regimes in the Transvaal and in the rest of the country prior to Union in 1910 or subsequently, Jewish citizens living in South Africa enjoyed legal equality in all respects.
[[Slavery and disfranchisement of the blacks and native peoples is not mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Judaica]].
[1930s: Discussions about limitation of Jewish immigration to keep the balance and to prevent anti-Semitism]
However, further immigration of Jews, more particularly from Eastern Europe, did periodically become a public issue. In the 1930s the influx of refugees from Nazi Germany led to active agitation for the complete prohibition of Jewish immigration. In the result, while no specific anti-Jewish provisions were written into the immigration laws, restrictions were introduced which were expressly designed to cut down the flow of Jewish immigrants. The supporters of these restrictive policies were not confined to one political party only, and many disclaimed an anti-Jewish prejudice, asserting that the measures were necessary to prevent the growth of anti-Semitism by maintaining the existing (col. 189)
balance between the various elements of the white population. (South Africa never favored an open-door immigration policy, the Afrikaans-speaking section, in particular, often contending that aliens were a threat to the economic and political status of the established population).
[1933-1945: NS antisemitic groups in South Africa - National Party]
South Africa became the scene of open anti-Semitic agitation among certain sections of the population - not shared by the majority of the citizens - from the time of the accession of the Nazis in Germany in 1933 until the end of World War II. Organized anti-Semitic movements arose, among them the "shirt" movements like the Greyshirts, Blackshirts, and South African Fascists, and semi-political bodies like the Ossewa Brandwag and the New Order, with fully fledged National Socialist programs. These developments eventually had their impact upon the official opposition party, the National Party, which in 1937 embodied a plank on the "Jewish question" in it official program. Its demands included the total prohibition of further Jewish immigration, stronger control over naturalization, and the introduction of a "quota" system for Jews in various branches of economic life. In Transvaal province, too (but not in the other provinces), Jews were banned from membership of the National Party. When the United Party government, headed by Jan Christiaan *Smuts, declared war against Germany in 1939, the National Party formally proclaimed its neutrality.
[since 1945: Reduced anti-Semitic activities - stop of discrimination claims since Mai 1948 by Malan - no discrimination between the white population]
The anti-Jewish agitation grew more subdued as World War II moved to its climax and sharp ideological differences emerged within the National Party. The moderate elements finally gained the upper hand, and in his political manifesto prior to the general election in May 1948, the Nationalist Party leader, Daniel François Malan, later prime minister, announced a new policy. Denying that the party's attitude on immigration was motivated by anti-Jewish feelings, he affirmed positively that his party did not support discriminatory measures between Jew and non-Jew who were already resident in the country. Consistently with that declaration, when the National Party won the election and became the government, Malan announced his goal to be the removal of the "Jewish question" from the life and politics of South Africa.
The reestablishment of confidence was not effected without difficulty. Jews generally tended to hold aloof from the National Party. However it fulfilled its pledge not to countenance anti-Semitism in public life. Successive National Party prime minister have reaffirmed government policy to be one of equality and nondiscrimination between all sections of the white population.
[[Slavery of black and native peoples is not mentioned]].
[since 1945: Jewish viewpoints without collective Jewish responsibility: "Subversive" conduct - Herzl Israel]
The activities of individual Jews or of the Jewish community as such have led to occasional controversy, often revealing the impact of the political, ideological, and racial tensions in South Africa upon attitudes toward Jews. Jewish spokesmen thus found it necessary from time to time to emphasize that there is no collective Jewish viewpoint in regard to the racial policies advocated by the respective political parties, and that Jewish citizens act in such matters not as members of a group, but as individuals.
Similarly, public statements were made rejecting any collective Jewish responsibility for persons alleged to be engaged in "subversive" conduct under the anti-communist laws. In order to counter reactions to Israel's support at the United Nations of resolutions critical of South Africa's apartheid policies, spokesmen emphasized that the Jewish community, although strongly pro-Israel, was not accountable for the actions of the State of Israel. For the most part, however, the pro-Israel sentiments of the general population reacted favorably upon South African Jewry (see Zionism, below).
[since 1945: discussion about a new "Conscience Clause" for universities - anti-Semitic propaganda]
Problems have also faced the Jewish community in the sphere of education. Thus, the advocacy by Afrikaaner (col. 190)
churchmen and others that the "Conscience Clause" in university statutes - which prohibits the imposition of a religious test upon teachers or students - be abolished, has called for vigilance. The Jewish community has stressed its support of the Conscience Clause as a protection of freedom of conscience in institutions of higher education.
Periodically, too, evidence has come to light of the existence of individuals or groups who deliberately foster anti-Jewish prejudice, or of the importation of anti-Semitic propaganda originating from abroad.
Despite these manifestations, however, anti-Semitism is not a serious problem, and South African Jews continue to participate fully in all aspects of national life on the basis of equality.> (col. 191)
Sources
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 183-184
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 185-186
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 187-188
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 189-190
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 191-192
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 193-194
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 195-196
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 197-198
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 199-200
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 201-202
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 203-204
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 205-206
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: South Africa, vol. 15, col. 207-208
