UPDATE: Roedean School apologises for hurting the Jewish community and principal resigns
King David, a prominent Jewish High School in Johannesburg has asked Roedean, an exclusive Anglican girls high school in the city, to “apologise unequivocally” for cancelling a tennis match between the schools to accommodate antisemitic parents.
According to a letter to King David staff and parents posted on Sunday, the school also wants Roedean to commit to play them in future.
Rodean has denied allegations of antisemitism. However, after a recording of a telephone conversation between senior staff of the schools was leaked, revealing that antisemitic parents had been pressuring Rodean to cancel a match against King David, the girls’ school changed its excuse for turning away King David girls who arrived at the school for their scheduled match on February 3. In a public message last Sunday, Roedean said the match was cancelled because of prior school commitments. In its updated excuse — in a media statement released on Wednesday — Rodean says the match had to be cancelled because King David would not accommodate a requested postponement to resolve issues with students who did not want to play the match. “Regrettably, this cancellation was not effectively communicated to the King David team. We apologise unreservedly for this miscommunication,” says Rodean.
Roedean says it has engaged an independent party to review allegations in news reports and social media.
Both schools have expressed hope that a positive relationship that has existed between their schools for decades will be restored.
In an opinion piece published in Politics Web yesterday, Johannesburg advocate Mark Oppenheimer says that Roedean’s conduct constitutes clear antisemitic discrimination. He writes: “The subsequent denial of what occurred makes the matter worse. The refusal to acknowledge the real reason for the boycott compounds the original harm by attempting to conceal it.
“South Africa’s Equality Act prohibits both the state and private bodies from unfairly discriminating against people on prohibited grounds, including religion, race, and belief. On the facts now available, it would be open to King David or an appropriate civil rights organisation to institute proceedings in the Equality Court.
“Such proceedings would allow a court to establish the full factual record, determine whether unfair discrimination occurred, assess whether it was based on religion or another prohibited ground, and evaluate the seriousness of the dignity infringement suffered by the affected students. Importantly, an Equality Court would also be able to determine whether this incident reflects a broader or systemic problem rather than an isolated lapse in judgment.”
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