The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation stands firmly in support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) following the repulsive attack levelled against it by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).
The NMF has been targeted by the SAJBD for hosting the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, for its annual lecture taking place on 25 October 2025 in Johannesburg.
Albanese – a human rights expert and a global voice against the genocide in Palestine – was labelled an ‘anti-Semite’ by SAJBD. It extends this serious accusation to South Africa’s former International Relations Minister, Naledi Pandor, who chairs the NMF Board. During Pandor’s term in office, the South African government lodged a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Anyone with a moral compass aligned to the basic tenets of justice and humanity would know that that the allegations against these two human rights advocates are untruthful and malicious. It in fact points only to the SAJBD’s own lack of moral conscience given its inability to distance itself from Israel’s genocidal actions.
Speaking out against the genocide, Israel’s ongoing occupation and its Zionist, apartheid polices does not make one an anti-Semite. The SAJBD should perhaps be taking a leaf out of the book of the many Jewish activists, who have joined the solidarity frontlines to express their horror and outrage against Israel’s murder of 67 000 Palestinians.
The SAJBD purports to know about Nelson Mandela’s values and accuses the NMF of deviating from his legacy. Mandela was absolutely clear and principled about his support for the Palestinian people and their struggle for freedom. He saw the South African struggle for liberation as being incomplete without that of the Palestinians.
Mandela was a revolutionary. He believed that armed resistance to apartheid was necessary, and in 1961 launched the ANC’s underground military wing – Umkhonto we Sizwe. He used the tactics of passive resistance and defiance, as well as that of mass political mobilisation. Mandela was a reconciler, but it was a reconciliation underpinned by justice, freedom, and dignity. Mandela was listed on the USA’s terror watchlist until 2008, a fact that those who want to use the USA’s moral judgement as yardstick, conveniently forget.
The SAJBD by its own admission only officially adopted a stance against apartheid in South Africa at the tail end of the liberation struggle. Will it this time be complicit in the face of a live-streamed genocide committed by the fascist state of Israel? History will not be kind to the SAJBD for its deliberate amnesia about the atrocities committed by Isreal consistently throughout the 75 years of occupation preceding 7 October 2023; and its unwavering support for Israel as it brutally murdered 20 000 Palestinian children in the last two years.
Neither the sponsored trips to Israel for selected journalists and some South Africans, nor the whitewashing by two relatives of struggle stalwarts who are willing to sell their integrity for a pat on the back by genocide denialists, will be able to absolve the SAJBD of its immoral stance.
To the contrary, just like Mandela, Naledi Pandor, Francesca Albanese and the Nelson Mandela Foundation will be celebrated among those who stood up to oppression, injustice, and Israeli apartheid. They are, after all, on the right side of history.
ENDS
Supported by:
June and Andrew Mlangeni Foundation
Sophie and Henry de Bruyn Foundation
The Gandhi Development Trust (GDT)
Issued by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation
For media inquiries, please contact:
Anele Gcwabe
Communications Manager
Ahmed Kathrada Foundation
083-278-8832
anele@kathradafoundation.org