Top South African girls’ school changes its reasons for alleged Jewish school boycott

Top South African private school, Roedean, has changed its reasons as to why a tennis fixture against Jewish day school, King David Linksfield, was cancelled.

Initially, the school said in a statement on 8 February that they “were unable to field a team for the fixture due to prior school commitments, including compulsory academic workshops.”

They reportedly then requested either a postponement or, if not possible, then cancellation of the fixture.

Then, a leaked voice recording of a conversation between a representative from Roedean and King David shows that the decision was actually driven by political pressure from parents objecting to playing against a Jewish school in the wake of the South African government’s stance on Israel.

Following reporting from this revelation, Roedean issued another statement on 10 February admitting that they “approached King David Linksfield… and requested a postponement.”

This was “to resolve issues with students who’d expressed reservations about playing the fixture.”

“King David was unable to accommodate the postponement, so the fixture had to be cancelled. Regrettably, this cancellation was not effectively communicated to the King David team. We apologise unreservedly for this miscommunication,” said Roedean.

In the leaked recording, the speaker acknowledges that the school is facing significant pressure from parents regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, unrelated to any academic scheduling issues.

“We’re facing a bit of pressure from our community and our constituents regarding just not playing against King David,” the teacher is heard saying.

“They’re basically saying because of the stance that the government took, we’re supposed to support that.”

The Roedean speaker in the recording even laments the situation, describing an “environment of cancel culture.”

She expressed concern that the school would become isolated if it bowed to community pressure to boycott specific schools.

“Roedean School is an apolitical institution and will continue to remain so,” the school said in a subsequent statement.

Roedean School denied claims of antisemitism linked to the cancelled tennis fixture with King David Linksfield, saying it had appointed an independent investigator and facilitator to address the matter.

The school said it opposed all discrimination, was engaging with King David in good faith, and was investigating the alleged secret recording and distribution of private discussions.

Roedean added it would continue working with ISASA and the Gauteng Department of Education.

King David response

King David School has corroborated the narrative suggested by the voice note.

In a letter addressed to staff and parents, King David officials detailed a phone call that took place on the morning of February 2 between the heads of the two schools.

According to King David, Roedean’s Head of School, Ms. Mogale, initially admitted that “a group of parents at Roedean did not want the match to proceed on the basis that they would be playing a Jewish school.”

King David officials noted that during this initial conversation, “there was no mention made of any ‘prior school commitments’ nor of any ‘academic workshops’”.

It was only later that morning, via email, that Roedean officially cited “other academic commitments” as the reason for the forfeit.

When King David arrived for the match the following day, after receiving conflicting assurances that it would proceed, they were met with a new excuse: that the players were in “geography workshops,” a detail that had not been disclosed previously.

King David School is now calling for an “unequivocal apology for the antisemitic actions which resulted in the cancellation of the match.”

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has condemned the incident, stating that the refusal to play conveys a message that “hate and discrimination have become acceptable values at Roedean”.

SAJBD’s Wendy Kahn said that “at a time like this we would hope that the school would have taken a moment to do some deep introspection rather than doubling down.”

“While they claim a commitment to diversity, until a full, unequivocal apology to the tennis players and King David School, these claims of inclusivity are meaningless and come across as window-dressing.”

“We would hope that their diversity training would include sensitivities around antisemitism,” added Kahn.