Federation Focus: WIZO South Africa

The Zionist movement has a long, rich history in South Africa. In 1932, WIZO South Africa was founded.

In 1932, the iconic Zionist activist and co-founder of WIZO, Vera Weizmann, visited South Africa. She was determined to establish a branch in South Africa. After some opposition, WIZO South Africa was formed with Dr. Hedwig Reinhold as chairwoman. Among its many activities, this small but passionate federation hosts a national conference every four years, which is open to all who would like to attend.

This year will mark the 37^th National Conference, which will be held on Sunday, 10 November 2024 at 10 am (SA time). The conference, which is a working conference, is held every four years and features guest speakers and the announcement of the incoming WIZO South Africa President and Executive Council.

WIZO South Africa has four Societies in four provinces, each with their own Chairperson and fundraising activities. The main purpose of the conference is to bring all members of their Societies together, and anyone else in the WIZO global network that would like to attend. Current WIZO South Africa President, Shelley Trope-Friedman, will report on the past four years; each Society chairperson will also share reports and the guest speakers will address participants.

This year ‘s guest speaker is Nitsana Darshan-Leitner. Nitsana is the President and Founder of Shurat Hadin in Israel. Shurat HaDin is at the forefront of fighting terrorism and safeguarding Jewish rights worldwide and they are dedicated to taking legal action to protect and defend the State of Israel and its citizens. They do this by defending war crime allegations, blocking terror funding and combating lawfare and BDS.

Additional guest speakers include the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein as well as the President of World WIZO, Anat Vidor and the Chairperson of World WIZO, Anita Friedman.

As a federation, WIZO South Africa supports World WIZO through Membership, Campaign and Fundraising. With the funds WIZO South Africa raises, they support Neve WIZO foster homes for children and the Inez Bernstein Day Care Centre.

Read more about WIZO South Africa’s history and current activities: https://www.wizo.org/our-federations/south-africa/

Registration link for the conference:

https://bit.ly/WIZOSAConference2024