(Reviewer: Ralph Zulman, Vol. 68, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2013)
The appointment of Tony Leon as South African Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay by President Zuma in 2009 came, politically speaking, as somewhat of a surprise. As leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, Leon had been a strident and forceful critic of the South African government. Outside of his political career, Leon was an attorney of the High Court of South Africa and a former lecturer in Law at the University of the Witwatersrand. He was a frequent and popular speaker at functions organized by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies. Today, he lives in Cape Town with his Israeli-born wife Michal, and currently writes a weekly column in Business Day. His previous books are Hope and Fear: Reflections of a Diplomat (1998) and On the Contrary Leading the Opposition in a Democratic South Africa(2008). The latter received the Recht Malan Prize for the best non-fiction work in South Africa in 2009. I was pleased at the time to review both of these books for Jewish Affairs.
The Accidental Ambassador: From Parliament to Patagonia deals with Leon’s retirement from active political life into public service as an ambassador. In it, he deals critically with what may be described as a crash course on “how to become an ambassador” and the “strange stance and contradictions of South African foreign policy and life in Argentina”. He relates his entertaining experiences of “cultural immersion and the foibles of diplomatic life” (an amusing incident relates to an account that the South African Embassy received for the repair of a lift which had been damaged because it was overloaded with visiting South African rugby players!), but also deals with “more serious reflections on misgovernance, eccentric economic populism and politics in his home and host countries.”
Leon’s account of his meeting with Professor Alan Dershowitz before he took up his diplomatic posting is most revealing. This took place at the grand Harvard Club – in earlier years, I suspect it was a place where Jews were not welcome. The dinner meeting happened to take place during Chanukah, and in the course of it Dershowitz took out a small portable menorah and proceeded to light some of the candles. Writes Leon: “I was amazed, perhaps even a little embarrassed but beyond perhaps a raised eyebrow or two, the other diners seemed to regard this outsized demonstration of religious affirmation as perfectly normal. To my somewhat more understated sense of religious identity, the incident seemed entirely emblematic of the title of Dershowitz’s autobiography, Chutzpah.”
The Accidental Ambassador consists of a Preface, Abbreviations, thirty six Chapters, a Postscript, an Appendix, Acknowledgements, Notes, Index and details about the author. Running to 281 pages, it is sprinkled liberally with interesting photographs. Although brief Chapter 27, entitled ‘The Nazis’, is of interest in regard to the attitude of the then Argentinian regime to Nazi refuges such as the notorious Eichmann and Mengele. ‘Michal’s Must- See’ list in the Appendix provides a useful guide to those intending to visit Buenos Aires. There is scant reference to any dealings which Leon might have had with members of the large Jewish community of Buenos Aires, which I found strange.
On balance, I agree with Ray Hartley’s assessment of the book as being “an engaging read, which brings fresh perspective to post-apartheid South Africa and diplomacy.”
The Accidental Ambassador: From Parliament to Patagonia by Tony Leon, Picador Africa, 2013, 256pp
Mr Justice Ralph Zulman is a long-serving member of the editorial board of and regular contributor to Jewish Affairs.
