Antisemitism alleged as South African school cancels tennis match with Jewish team

After a prestigious South African girls’ school canceled a tennis match with a Jewish day school, Jewish organizations in the country are charging that the decision was motivated by antisemitism.

The Roedean School for Girls, an all-girls boarding school in Johannesburg, has denied the charge that discrimination was at play when it didn’t show up for its February 3 meeting with the King David High School girls’ team. But after leaked audio seemed to contradict its claims, it conceded on Tuesday that it canceled the match “to resolve issues with students who’d expressed reservations about playing.”

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the representative body for the country’s Jewish population of 50,000, has condemned Roedean, charging that the decision “conveys the message that hate and discrimination have become acceptable values at Roedean.”

According to a letter posted Monday by the King David School that recaps the controversy, Roedean called King David on the morning of February 2 and raised concerns that a group of parents did not want the match to proceed “on the basis that they would be playing a Jewish school.”

No mention of academic commitments or compulsory workshops was made during that call, King David’s letter said.

However, further communication that day was disjointed, the letter indicated. Shortly after the phone call, Roedean’s head of sport sent an email citing other academic commitments as the school’s reason for forfeiting the match, and then, around noon, a phone call was made saying the issue was resolved and the match would proceed as scheduled.

But when King David’s team arrived for the match on Tuesday, Roedean’s players weren’t there. Roedean later gave the excuse “that the players were in geography workshops that had also not been disclosed prior to the teams’ arrival,” the letter from King David said.

According to the letter, King David later met with Roedean for what it called “a constructive meeting,” and demanded “an unequivocal apology for the antisemitic actions which resulted in the cancellation of the match,” along with a commitment to the teams’ playing each other in the future.

The SAJBD will not let the matter rest and is exploring all options to hold Roedean accountable. pic.twitter.com/tFRVxfXEwL

— SA Jewish Board (@SAJBD) February 8, 2026

On Sunday, Roedean had initially issued a public statement denying all allegations of antisemitism.

According to its original version of the story, the request to postpone or cancel the fixture was “due to prior school commitments, including compulsory academic workshops,” with no mention of the opposing school’s Jewish identity.

“We reject unequivocally any allegation of antisemitism or discriminatory conduct,” the school said.

However, a leaked recording of a conversation between representatives from Roedean and King David seemed to show that the school was, in fact, under significant pressure from parents to withdraw from playing against a Jewish school.

“We’re facing a bit of pressure from our community and our constituents regarding just not playing against King David,” a teacher is heard saying with a tone of regret in the recording, which was leaked later on Sunday. “[Parents are] basically saying, because of the stance that the government took, we’re supposed to support that.” The remark was an apparent reference to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party’s anti-Israel stance.

Following the leak of the recording, Roedean issued a revised statement on Tuesday, conceding that it had requested the postponement of the match “to resolve issues with students who’d expressed reservations about playing the fixture.”

“We recognise the seriousness of the concerns that have been raised and the distress this matter has caused to students, families, and the wider school community,” the school posted on its Facebook page on Sunday, explaining that it was working with King David and an organization representing the school system to resolve the issues.

“Roedean has a long-standing commitment to inclusion and respect for all communities, and antisemitism has no place in our school,” it added.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies said it was also working to address the incident.

“Roedean cannot claim to be ‘guided by a strong set of values and principles’ when they clearly violate the basic tenets of South Africa’s Constitution,” the group posted on X on Sunday. “Sport has the potential to unite and harness diversity, but regrettably, Roedean flouted that opportunity by boycotting the Jewish school.”