July 21, 2008 / 18 Tammuz 5768

There are approximately 65,000 Jews in South Africa, approx. 45,000 in Johannesburg, approx. 15,000 in Cape Town and the rest in small communities in Durban (2,500), Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and elsewhere.

The South African Jewish community has always been a close-knit and Zionist community, involved in affairs of state, with a lively community life, a tradition of support and assistance within the community and an emphasis on Jewish Zionist education.

Most of the community's children go to Jewish schools and a significant number of them are members of Zionist youth movements.

The high degree of community cohesion has been explained by the homogenous nature of the community, the vast majority of community members being descendants of Lithuanian immigrants, with a similar mentality and background.

Since the establishment of the State of Israel, 21,000 Jews have made aliyah from South Africa. South African immigrants have made an important contribution to Israel in many spheres: economic, medical, science, army, sports, and more. The new immigrants have brought business investments, hi- tech initiatives, and have integrated in teaching professions, academe and various fields of medicine.

The Jewish Agency operates in South Africa in the two centers of Jewish concentration: Johannesburg and Cape Town. Jewish Agency activity within the community is of a varied nature: educational activities, such as projects with the schools, the annual Bible Quiz, activities with the youth movements (on an ongoing basis as well as the summer camps, in which most of the youths of the community participate), aliyah promotion, sending participants to short- and long-term programs in Israel, pilot tours, volunteering and aliyah counseling.

Aliyah trends

The height of aliyah was between 1977 and 1978, in which 1,400 Jews moved to Israel each year. The impetus was the Soweto riots that took place during this time. At the end of the '50's, in response to the black riots in Sharpeville, there had also been a sharp rise in aliyah. At the end of the '80's the apartheid regime started to break apart and in 1994 South Africa moved to black democratic rule. After the fall of apartheid, the Jewish community suffered a shake-up that brought about the emigration of many of its members to Australia, United States, Britain and a minority to Israel. It is clear that increases in the number of olim were always a result of events in South Africa that gave Jews the impetus to leave.

Until September 11th, 2001, the main destination of Jews leaving South Africa was Australia, followed by the United States, Canada, Britain, with Israel at the end of the list (between 10-15% of all South African Jewish emigrants moved to Israel). After September 11th, 2001, the United States imposed stricter immigration rules and since then, Israel has become number two on the list of destinations, the first being Australia, with Britain, Canada and the U.S. following Israel.

Break-down of emigration destinations today:
Australia – 45%
Israel – 20%
Britain – 15%
Canada – 10%
Untied States – 10%

Since the year 2000, the number of olim from South Africa has fluctuated between 100 to 150 annually.

Profile of the olim

Most of the South African olim who have made aliyah for ideological reasons (aliyah-by-choice) are Orthodox Jews, many of them with higher education and a good socio-economic level. The common professions: commerce, economics, law, medical fields and para-medical fields. Many are single students, young couples and older families, the older people coming mostly in the footsteps of their children.

Aliyah of distress can be seen mainly among those who are not within the circle of support of the community (the non-religious and those less involved in the synagogues). Some of them come from a low to middle socio-economic level and have intermarriage in the family, sometimes with no higher education and with professions such as clerks and salespeople.

The Situation Today

After several years of relative stability, the interest in aliyah to Israel has reawakened and risen since the end of 2007. Like in past periods of relatively high aliyah, this can be attributed to changes within the social, economic and political spheres in South Africa. Some of the factors leading to the present trend are the political turmoil, the rising crime in the streets, an unstable economy, failing infrastructures, and affirmative action which works against whites. The year 2007 registered an increase of 13% in aliyah and the numbers continue to rise, so that this year (January to May 2008) the number of aliyah files opened is double that for the same period in 2007.

From the beginning of 2008, we have seen increasing numbers of Jews coming to the aliyah offices in order to open aliyah files and/or inquire about options in Israel.

By May 31st 2008, 290 new aliyah files were opened, 110 people have already made aliyah, and some 100 additional olim wil be arriving on a special flight (first ever from South Africa) on July 21st.

In the coming months, there will also be those who are keeping their final aliyah papers as an "insurance policy" for an emergency. Still, we estimate that by the end of 2008 the number of olim from South Africa will be more than 300. In 2009, we expect the moderate rise in the number of olim to continue.

The Jewish Agency is responding to this trend in various ways: augmenting the working teams in the field, expediting the aliyah process, searching for new absorption solutions, and bringing representatives from all walks of life in Israel to consultation meetings with aliyah candidates. An absorption project has begun within the framework of the "First Home in the Country" track, as a pilot project for a group of 5 families, with the option of expansion in the future. In addition, of course, we have been involved in the special flight in July and in bringing the olim to three days of concentrated absorption activities in which they will receive all the necessary information and services in order to shorten bureaucratic procedures.

Large "Aliyah Expo's" have taken place in Johannesburg and Cape Town and a delegation of experts in various fields in Israel was sent to this. Hundreds of people took part in the fair, expressing interest in aliyah, and more than 900 of them were interviewed by the representatives from the various fields.

Furthermore, we began a process of approving a job slot for a full-time aliyah emissary to Johannesburg to assist the director of the Israel Centre there, who presently serves as the only Jewish Agency representative, being in charge of the educational activities as well as the aliyah field.