JAMAD-UL-AKHIR 1435 l APRIL 2014
Vol. 28 No. 4
Community activism is answer to gangsterism says WCRLF MAHMOOD SANGLAY
HE solution to gang violence lies in change in mindset. Local communities should stop expecting the government to solve the problem. The solution lies in the hands of local communities. Imam Abdul Rashied Omar spoke on the gang violence in Manenberg in his Friday sermon, on March 14, at Claremont Main Road Mosque. We need a paradigm shift away from a reliance on the state to a social activism driven by civil society organisations to build safer communities, he said. He announced an initiative called the Safe Manenberg Campaign, which is an interfaith forum of local religious leaders to promote peace, safety and security. As chairperson of the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum (WCRLF), he addressed the volatile environment of the 16 000 learners enrolled at Manenberg’s 18 public schools. In February this year, at least four schools in Manenberg reported attendance of less than 50 per cent due to gang violence. He accused the local and national government of failing to curb gang violence. ‘Politicians of all stripes have forsaken their legal duty and moral responsibility to protect the children of Manenberg by cynical political jostling. ‘In the coming weeks, regrettably, the safety of the people of Manenberg will be reduced to a political football as political parties scramble to get votes,’ he said. Imam Omar shared his diagnosis of the problem with the congregation as a means of ‘re-energising a much needed discussion’ to combat gang violence. He said that Manenberg represents a ‘microcosm of the marginalisation and exclusion of people’ and that the ‘root causes of gang violence lie firmly in the apartheid policy of forced removals’ due to the Group Areas Act.
Rukshana Pascoe spoke after the Friday prayers at Claremont Main Road Mosque, on March 14. She said that children have shown that they can march to register protest against gang violence more effectively than adults. Photo MAHMOOD SANGLAY
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‘It was built to accommodate 35 000 residents but, currently, has a population in excess of 70 000 inhabitants. It has the most triple-storey maisonettes on the Cape Flats, and an unemployment rate of over 60 per cent,’ said Imam Omar. He referred to Quranic admonishments relating to the sanctity of human life in 5:32, and added that the conscientious Muslim respects human life and does not remain silent in the ‘face of wanton loss of human life’. On a positive note, the khutbah ended with the narrative of the lives of two inspiring individuals from Manenberg, Craig Sampson and Ivy Booysen. Sampson lived with his mother in a Wendy house. With the support of teachers and a sponsor, he matriculated, studied commerce at UWC and, in 2013, qualified as a chartered accountant. Ivy is a reformed gang member with a history of verbal, physical and psychological abuse. Imam Omar related, ‘At the age of thirteen, she stabbed her stepfather with a knife, and her mother threw her out of the house.’ The only refuge for her in the streets was the gangs. However, even as a gang member she never abandoned school.
She matriculated and was awarded a scholarship to study animation at a local college. She is still studying and is determined to succeed as an animation specialist, and to give back to her community. Imam Omar asked the congregation to remember victims of gang violence, like nine-year-old Sadiq Stemmet, and to join the mosque in providing support for them. Sadiq was shot in the back in the crossfire during a gang fight in December, 2013, and is now wheelchair-bound. After the Friday sermon and prayers were concluded, Imam Omar invited the congregation to remain for a discussion led by two speakers. The first was Father Donovan Meyer of the Church of Reconciliation, in Manenberg, who said the role of the church is to restore the damage done to the spirituality of people. The second speaker, Rukshana Pascoe, is a Manenberg resident who is also the provincial co-ordinator of the Right2Know Campaign. She sounded a note of hope by reporting that she had organised a march for peace by children, which has had some effect, even temporarily, to bring calm to the violence-ridden area. She intends to continue this kind of campaigning to make a difference in Manenberg. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Radio 786-Sajbod reach settlement MAHMOOD SANGLAY
HE 16-year-long dispute between Radio 786 and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Sajbod) has finally been settled. The Islamic Unity Convention (IUC) that currently controls Radio 786 reached an agreement with Sajbod on March 31. Sajbod agreed to withdraw the complaint lodged in 1998 following the broadcast of what could be viewed as ‘nonsensical and anti-Semitic’ statements made by Dr Yakub Zaki in a Radio 786 interview. In a joint statement, the IUC conceded that the broadcast ‘may have caused offence and distress to members of the South African Jewish community’. Sajbod, in turn, conceded that Radio 786 did not intend to cause any offence or distress. Both the IUC and Sajbod claim that the agreement has vindicated their positions. Sajbod states that the legal battle could have been avoided had Radio 786 conceded 16 years ago that Dr Zaki’s views could be seen as offensive and a cause for distress. Ali Chiktay, secretary of the IUC, speaking on behalf of the group in control of Radio 786 says this response of Sajbod is ‘disingenuous to say the least’ because the IUC had made this acknowledgement at the inception of the dispute and extended an invitation to Sajbod
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to respond to Dr Zaki’s comments on air, which they declined. He also said that the agreement ensures that the Sajbod complaint is withdrawn and that other pending complaints prior to 2009 are set aside. According to Chicktay, the agreement also averted a possible second Constitutional Court application with the same outcome as the first in 2007. The original application effectively compelled the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to hear a complaint they had already dismissed. The agreement, according to Chicktay, effectively saved Radio 786 and the IUC millions of rands. However, the historic settlement reached between Radio 786 and Sajbod came under threat by the split between the two groups calling themselves the legitimate representatives of the IUC, the licence-holder of Radio 786. Attorneys acting for Imam Achmad Cassiem, Mogammad de Vries, Faldiela Martin, Idris Surve and Nizaam Toefy say the agreement contravenes the resolution of the General Convention of the IUC taken in 1998 and 2006. Chicktay disagrees and says that the resolution in question affirms a principled position to defend freedom of expression. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Sanzaf hosts international zakaah conference AS part of its 40th anniversary programme, the South African National Zakah Fund (Sanzaf) will be hosting a major conference that will potentially be the largest gathering of Muslim organisations working in the field of zakaah. The conference will be held from May 17 to 19. See page 7 for details