SAJBD accepts apology from Mcebo Dlamini over antisemitic comments

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SAJBD accepts apology from Mcebo Dlamini over antisemitic comments

December 15th, 2020

Awake Goy

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies has accepted an apology from African National Congress (ANC) politician Mcebo Dlamini for antisemitic comments he made in 2015, when he said that people should admire Adolf Hitler and delved into stereotypical antisemitic tropes about Jews, according to a press release from SAJBD on Monday.

Mediation was coordinated with the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre.

SAJBD vice president Zev Krengel said that Dlamini’s apology was very remorseful, adding in a statement that “the sincerity with which he acknowledged the hurt that he caused our community was palpable.”

“This understanding prompted him to make an unequivocal apology,” Krendel said. “His recognition that the statements were antisemitic, hurtful and offensive, together with his genuine apology, enables us to heal from the hurt he caused,” he said. “It is important for us as a community, and as South Africans, to identify when genuine remorse is expressed. It is equally important for us to accept a sincere apology of this nature as it enables us to move forward.”

SAJBD Gauteng Council chairwoman Prof. Karen Milner commended Dlamini’s apology as well, saying: “We try wherever possible to take a restorative approach to justice. Such an approach follows a process by which the offender acknowledges what he or she has done wrong, and expresses genuine remorse and regret. Dlamini has met these criteria, and is a successful example of what is possible with this approach.”

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