SUNGULA NKABINDE AND POLOKO TAU
DESPITE objections from residents, the Muslim community of Orlando East now has a place of worship.
The residents tried unsuccessfully to discourage the building of a mosque at Mofutsanyana and Mosaka streets. The building was opened officially yesterday.
The three-storey structure was packed as Muslims from all over Joburg and surrounds joined in a celebratory feast.
“Our constitution allows for freedom of religion… That is why it is important to have the mosque… to demystify some misconceptions about Islam,” said imam Abdul Aziz Maluleke.
Duma Kgodisang Orphan, vice-chairman of the Sediki Trust, which built the mosque, said he didn’t understand why people had been concerned about the building.
“There are only two mosques in Soweto. How many Catholic churches are there?” he asked.
“We want to be able to teach our children about the values of Islam,” he added.
Ibrahim Bham, spokesman for the group whose mosque has been completed, said there would be social outreach programmes such as soup kitchens, medical centres, and a computer-training classroom where young people in the area would be taught to be computer literate.
Daniel Tamane, who also attended the opening, said: “It is going to provide convenience… because (our religion) requires that we pray as early as 5am in the morning… and before (Sowetans) had to go all the way to Dlamini, and it is not safe. Now people of Orlando East have a place nearby to pray.”
Some Orlando East residents were unhappy that business premises had been demolished without consultation and that the mosque would serve people not living in the area.
But despite petitions and letters of objection sent to the City of Joburg, the council rejected residents’ claims that their objections had not been considered, stating that its planning committee tribunal had, based on objections and representations made by everyone involved, initially refused the application for a mosque to be built on the site.