People saw Julius Malema wearing a kippah (Jewish skull cap)and tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) at his grandfather’s funeral and immediately jumped to Zionism. That reaction is based on a huge misunderstanding.
Judaism and Zionism are not the same thing. Judaism is a religion. Zionism is a political ideology. They are not identical.
Judaism is ritual, ancestry and community.
Zionism is a modern political project linked to the State of Israel.
A person can be Jewish and anti Zionist.
A person can be Jewish and apolitical.
A person can be non Jewish and Zionist.
South Africans know this pattern. Christianity is not apartheid even though apartheid was justified by Christians.
Judaism is not Zionism even though Zionism is often defended by Jews. Malema’s political stance remains political. His family’s funeral rituals are cultural and spiritual.
Africa has long standing Jewish communities. The most relevant to Limpopo is the Lemba people of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Their traditions include circumcision rites, dietary laws, clan histories that trace back to a place called Sena and priestly customs that resemble ancient Judaism.
They form part of a wider African Jewish landscape that includes Beta Israel in Ethiopia, Abayudaya in Uganda and Igbo Jewish communities in Nigeria.
Jewish garments at a Limpopo funeral are not unusual. They reflect Africa’s layered cultural history rather than a political endorsement of Israel.