New group pushes for Hajj quota increase

A NEW advocacy group has been formed to push for an increase in the quota numbers allocated to South Africans who attend the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

The United Council for South African Hujjaaj (Ucsah) was recently formed in light of several complaints about applications by potential South African pilgrims.

The organisation held its first Durban meeting at the Harley Road Primary School in Overport last weekend.

Founder Ebrahim Laher, who lives in Joburg, said the basis of the organisation was to be a voice for the many people who had been let down by the allegedly unfair practices linked to the

Hajj application process. He said he aimed to tackle the issue of pilgrims who were often misled by unscrupulous service providers.

“The process, as it exists, has been extremely unfair to those who apply. Just to get your application going, a fee is required. Above this, there are other unnecessary fees which places a further financial burden on the pilgrim.

“Hajj is expensive to perform as it is. Why make it harder for those who already cannot afford it, but have been saving all their lives to go?” asked Laher.

The annual pilgrimage sees thousands of Muslims apply for accreditation. They are placed on a lengthy waiting list.

Muslims are expected to complete Hajj at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Only 2 500 South Africans get to attend due to the strict quota policy implemented by the Saudi Arabian government. The quota for South Africa was previously 1 950 but was increased to 2 500 in 2017.

Laher said Ucsah would push for government intervention in terms of increasing the quota numbers.

“I do not believe that people on the ground, or a body, in this case, the South African Hajj and Umrah Council (Sahuc), has the ability to negotiate.

“This should be a diplomatic move between government officials and we will push for this to happen,” said Laher.

“We just want to provide a transparent platform for the voices of pilgrims to be heard.

“This year, the process started off on a very unfair note in that those who were accredited to attend had only two days to give Sahuc an answer.

“What if they didn’t immediately have the financial means to provide an answer? This means they get taken off the list.

“It is these practices that we hope to change,” said Laher.

He said complaints were expressed by pilgrims each year but remained unresolved.

“We’ve now undertaken to implement a system that would protect pilgrims by engaging with stakeholders through a consultative process to ensure that their best interests are served.

“This would revolutionise the current environment, which is perceived as untouchable and non-transparent with little or no accountability,” said Laher.

Hassan Choonara, of Sahuc, said a protocol team would meet the Saudi Arabian ministry next week. It would be premature to confirm anything before the meeting. Sahuc would not respond to Laher’s comments, he said.