By Neelam Rahim

It has been 30 years this month since Gift of the Givers was founded by Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, and over these three decades, the aid organisation’s presence has been felt not only in South Africa but across the globe. He and his team facilitated projects in Haiti, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Iraq and provided aid in South Africa in disasters such as flooding, runaway fires and drought. They also played a significant role in providing aid when the country was in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Joining the discussion with Radio Islam International, Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman said Gift of the Givers has had phenomenal growth, especially in the last three to four years. Currently, 21 different categories of projects each have their sub-categories. 

Over the years, Dr Imtiaaz has been honoured at home and internationally.

He says, “I don’t take it in any special way, because a Sufi Sheikh had given me the instruction on August 6th 1992 that whatever is done is done through you and not by you. And these awards is recognition for work that is done by the team as a whole.”

Dr Imtiaaz further tells Radio Islam it is a collective recognition of everybody involved in the chain assisting fellow humans in and outside the country. 

Meanwhile, there have been calls and even a Facebook page calling on Imtiaz Sooliman for president. Dr Imtiaaz said that he has no plan to go into politics as there has been strict instruction from the beginning that he will never enter politics nor work in government but will always work with government from the outside, which has been done for 30 years. 

“I have no intention of changing a winning formula,” he says. 

According to Dr Sooliman, South Africa is the best country in the world, and there is nothing to fear. Looking closely at this country, there is nothing that cannot be fixed or changed, and progress is always made. 

He says the most important which needs to be understood is that the country does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people of South Africa. And when it belongs to us, we do everything we can to fix it.

Listen to the full interview on Radio Islam’s podcast below.