By Bafana Modise, National Spokesperson of South African Friends of Israel
The National Black Empowerment Council (NBEC), a well-respected US-based advocacy group known for its successful government lobbying efforts, recently met with the South African Friends of Israel (SAFI) and the South African Community of Faith-Based Fraternals (SACOFF) in Sandton, to discuss opportunities for relationship-building between all three organisations.
The discussion took place at a high-level Prayer Breakfast hosted by SAFI at Sasfin in Sandton on Wednesday, May 20 2026, where American and South African faith leaders, business representatives, and civil society organisations gathered to discuss leadership, religious extremism, economic cooperation, and the future of civic engagement in South Africa.
“This is not simply symbolic cooperation. This is the beginning of a strategic collaboration focused on empowering communities, developing principled leadership, and strengthening organisations that believe in faith, freedom, democracy, and human dignity,” said Darius Jones, Founder and Executive Director at the NBEC.
Jones, who is responsible for taking over 500 political and community-based leaders to Israel since 2009, highlighted the historic relationship between Black and Jewish communities globally, noting that both communities have endured racism, discrimination, and growing extremism, particularly after the global rise in antisemitism that has followed the October 7 massacre by Hamas attacks in Israel: “Communities that understand suffering also understand the importance of standing together. We believe there is tremendous opportunity for collaboration in South Africa, particularly among faith-based communities committed to moral leadership,” he added.
In one of his recent trips to Israel just last year, Jones was accompanied by Nelson Mandela’s granddaughters, who found that reality in Israel and Gaza was “totally different” from the impression they had been given before their eye-opening visit. Zamaswazi (Swati) Dlamini-Mandela and Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway stated: “Apartheid was government-mandated racial separation. What we saw in Israel and Gaza is very different. There is no comparison. We witnessed communities – Jewish and Arab – living, working, marrying side by side”
Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who was also present at the event yesterday, addressed attendees on the importance of strengthening Christian-Jewish alliances in the face of rising extremism, ideological intolerance, and attacks on Jewish and Christian communities around the world: “We cannot afford silence in the face of religious extremism and hatred. Faith-based communities have a responsibility to defend the values that sustain their societies: that being their faith, family, and dignity, which requires great responsibility, and even greater moral courage,” said Goldstein.
Bafana Modise, National Spokesperson for SAFI, said the opportunity for collaboration with the NBEC represented an important step toward building stronger civil society institutions capable of confronting corruption, extremism, antisemitism, and political instability in our country: “South Africa urgently needs ethical leadership and values-driven institutions willing to stand for truth, accountability, and social cohesion. The work happening between SAFI, SACOFF, and the NBEC demonstrates what is possible when organisations committed to faith and freedom choose collaboration over division,” said Modise.
SAFI Executive leadership, including Daniel Yakcobi and Shaun Zagnoev, also emphasized the importance of strengthening ties between South Africa, Israel, and the United States through investment, innovation, skills development, intellectual exchange, and people-based partnerships.
Leaders attending the gathering agreed that faith-based organisations and civic institutions must play a more active role in shaping public discourse, defending democratic values, and confronting the growing influence of radical and divisive ideologies across society.
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