Members of Parliament
Members of NCOP
21 May 2020
Dear Honourable Members
Universal Greetings of Peace
Re: Eid application logical
As you know the President responded to AL JAMA-AH’s application for temporary relief (clause 38 of the Constitution) by saying at a meeting with political party leaders that to deem the Eid ceremony in the same way as a funeral ceremony which is under lockdown Level 4 regarded as not being a prohibited gathering, is very logical. He and Hon Dlamini-Zuma are now having to take into the account the fact that Easter gatherings were prohibited as the government don’t want to be seen favouring Muslims over Christians.
I pointed out that one of former President Mandela’s campaigns was that Eid must be seen as a celebration for all South Africans and I hope that will be taken into account. Our democracy has evolved beyond a partisan approach by our senior religious and I believe that that they will also have a view that the application is very logical and will be the first to pray that we have a spiritual celebration in our mosques or outside observing the strict guidelines already in place for funerals.
I hope your voice will be heard with regard to an application that will further bring the nation together.
Our application and the 5 supporting annexures can be found on our website www.aljama.co.za
Yours sincerely
Hon Ganief Hendricks
Leader of AL JAMA-AH in parliament