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BO-KAAP
Cries against prayer call KAYLYNNE BANTOM KAYLYNNE.BANTOM@MEDIA24.COM
C
omplaints lodged against the Athaan (call to prayer) at a mosque in the BoKaap have sparked renewed calls to have the event exempted from being regarded as a noise nuisance in terms of the municipal bylaws. In the past two months, the City received two complaints against the Nurul Huda Mosque in Leeuwen Street while a third complaint was lodged about another mosque in the area. Shaykh Dawood Terblanche, imam at Nurul Huda, says he was shocked to hear of another complaint. He says a law enforcement officer visited the mosque on
Friday 21 August to convey the message. Terblanche admits that they received opposition in the past, but it is the first time they received three in a short period of time. “The Athaan has been amplified for more than 250 years. We are the first mosque to have sounded the Athaan over a speaker more than 50 years ago. Those making these complaints expect us to discontinue something we have been doing for many years,” he says. Shaykh Riad Fataar, second deputy president at the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), says the call to prayer is an important function in Islam. He says it serves to inform when the time for prayer has arrived. “We would like to state that we had formal discussions with the chair of the safety and security portfolio committee,
councillor Mzwakhe Nqavashe in May 2020 to have the Athaan exempted from being regarded as a ‘noise nuisance’ in the current City bylaws,” says Fataar. Richard Bosman, executive director for safety and security, however says this is an ongoing process. “The City respects the right to practise any religion and there have been no instances where the administration has silenced the call to prayer anywhere. “However, the City is duty-bound to investigate complaints, as provided for in the Western Cape noise regulations governing issues around noise nuisances and disturbances.” Bosman says the regulations imply that both parties have rights. “In this particular instance, the mosque has the right to do its call to prayer, but at the same time, any
member of the public has a right to complain if they deem it a noise nuisance or disturbance.” Bosman further adds that in the case of a noise disturbance, the complainants are required to submit a sworn affidavit in terms of the provincial regulations. “After receipt of an affidavit regarding a noise nuisance, authorized officials are required to investigate the complaint and exercise an opinion in terms of whether or not the complaint can be considered a noise nuisance,” says Bosman. Terblanche says they have not received a formal affidavit from the complainants, nor have they in the past, and hope that the situation will die out. Fataar says the MJC will continue working with the City and civil society so that the issue can be concluded amicably.