South African Jewry mourns the passing of Mendel Kaplan, a great Jewish leader and philanthropist and a great South African. In a life devoted to serving the Jewish people, within South Africa and at the highest levels on the international stage, Mendel Kaplan
achieved near iconic status for his multiple accomplishments.

Zev Krengel, National Chairman of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, paid fulsome tribute to Kaplan, commenting that in many ways he could be termed the “Father of the South African Jewish community”. In addition to his legendary generosity, his unmatched understanding of the dynamics of the Jewish communal leadership saw his guidance and advice being continually by generations of local Jewish leaders from all sectors of the community.

“When assessing what our community has achieved over the past few decades - whether it is in the educational, civil rights, social outreach, Zionistic, historical scholarship or cultural fields - the name of Mendel Kaplan indeed casts a giant shadow. Few, if any, have done as much to build South African Jewry into the dynamic, vibrant community it is today” he said.

Krengel further commented that Kaplan, by virtue of the senior role he had played on the world Jewish leadership stage, had been a source of great pride to South African Jewry. Amongst other leadership positions held, he had served as Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and as Chairman of the World Jewish Congress.

A billionaire and philanthropist, Kaplan supported a wide range of Jewish and general charitable, educational, religious and cultural institutions the world over. Passionate about Jewish history, religion and heritage, particularly in his home country, he authored several books himself in this regard and commissioned the writing of a number of others. In South Africa, this included establishing the Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research at UCT and the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town. In Israel, he was one of the first funders of the City of David excavation project.

Mendel Kaplan was born in Cape Town in 1936 and obtained a law degree and MBA from the University of Cape Town and Columbia University respectively. Thereafter, he went on to run a family business, Cape Gate, manufacturing steel, wire and wire products. He is survived by his wife, Jill, four children and grandchildren.