Jewish politician spends 30 nights in South African shanty town

CAPE TOWN — Jewish South African politician Jack Bloom believes in getting his hands dirty.

So it didn’t surprise his constituency when, after a devastating fire in a shanty town near Johannesburg several years ago in which 250 people lost everything they had, he decided spend time in some of the most deprived and neglected areas of the country to draw attention to the plight of what he calls “the forgotten.”

An elected member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since 1994, where Bloom served as leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) in the legislature from 2011 to 2014, the politician has a reputation in his native South Africa for exposing corruption, inefficiency and injustice.

Starting in August 2011, Bloom spent one night a month braving rats, pit toilets, raw sewage flows and lack of electricity, among other challenges. He chronicled his experiences in his book, “30 Nights in a Shack,” which recently had its Cape Town launch at the Jewish community’s Jacob Gitlin Library.

Western Cape premier and former DA party leader Helen Zille, who introduced the book at an early October event, described it as an “enormous contribution to nation-building.”

“Jack walks more than the extra mile,” she said. Referring to initiatives such as solar panels — that had brought light to un-electrified places — and improvements in sanitation that he had introduced while there, Zille said he had brought “revolutionary change to people’s lives.”

Recalling his experience in South Africa’s squatter settlements, Bloom was deeply affected by the cold winter’s night after the fire which he had spent with a shack owner and his four sons, unprotected from the elements.

Bloom had long been inspired by legendary Jewish opposition DA politician and anti-Apartheid activist Helen Suzman — who died in 2009 — whose motto was “Go and see for yourself.”

“I changed it to ‘Go and experience it for yourself,’” he said about his time with families at their shacks.

Conceding in the book that he would not normally have embarked on such a mission, he credited Rabbi David Masinter, head of the Chabad House in Johannesburg, with giving him the spiritual guidance to embark on his mission to help others.

‘Go and experience it for yourself’

It was after the meeting with Masinter that Bloom received a call about the shack fire, which changed the course of his life.

“I drove straight there, which is where I met Wellington Silane, who cried on my shoulder and had such an effect on me that I stayed with him in the ashes of his shack two nights later,” he wrote in the book.

“If this had happened a week earlier I would still have visited but not have done much more than ensure that the Johannesburg emergency services were providing the authorized relief in such a circumstance.”

The experience also helped lead Bloom back to his Jewish roots.

“I started attending religious services regularly, becoming more observant,” he said. “I started putting on tefillin daily for the first time since my bar mitzvah 37 years before. The other observances followed, including the required three daily prayers.”

In December 2012, Bloom found himself at the shack of Kenneth and Veliswa Manana in Tsakane Extension 10 on the fourth night of Hanukkah. “I took my ‘channukiah’, said the brocha [prayers] and lit the lights,” he related at the launch.

Zille added that during the time he spent in the shack settlements he also managed to maintain his Friday night [Sabbath] traditions.

Speaking for the forgotten

The informal settlements where Bloom spent time were plagued by aggressive rats that can maul or kill young children and babies. In the book, Bloom mentioned a close encounter of his own when a rodent ran over his feet.

Sharing this on Twitter, he was met with the comment, “You are now formally welcomed, enjoy your stay.”

Despite the adverse circumstances, Bloom said that the people he met are proud and do the best with what they have. Some have even displayed entrepreneurial flair, establishing their own businesses, including hair salons and one individual charging others for the use of a toilet he had built.

Though his last sleepover was in February 2014, Bloom still goes back to the settlements, continuing with his solar lights and toilet treatment campaign. All proceeds from the sale of his Amazon e-book go to different communities where he stayed.

“I briefly shared the circumstances of their lives and hope that I have done what I can to champion their cause,” said Bloom.

His visits also influenced Masinter to get Chabad involved with projects in the informal settlements, including a feeding scheme and container libraries with educational children’s books.

‘I’ve done what I set out to do and am continuing’

“I’ve done what I set out to do and am continuing,” Bloom said. “I’d like to sensitize people to the solar lighting, for example,” he added, noting that most of the shacks he stayed in relied on candles, which present an obvious fire hazard.

A businessman’s offer to sponsor solar panels led to Bloom launching a “Light up your Life” campaign to promote solar lighting in informal settlements. To date, more than 4,000 shacks have solar lighting, benefiting around 15,000 people.

As a result of publicity following his shack visits, Bloom has also raised awareness about sanitation and water issues.

“How difficult is it to fix a water tap?” he asked. “I bought 10 plastic taps from a nearby store and a local plumber installed them all in about an hour.”

“They can’t wait for government-subsidized houses,” Bloom said, but “with simple targeted initiatives people’s lives could be so much better.”