{"id":100660,"date":"2025-09-19T10:27:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T08:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=100660"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:27:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T08:27:28","slug":"parliament-moves-to-safeguard-south-african-pilgrims-amid-hajj-cost-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/parliament-moves-to-safeguard-south-african-pilgrims-amid-hajj-cost-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament Moves to Safeguard South African Pilgrims Amid Hajj Cost Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read
\n19 September 2025 | 09:30 CAT<\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf7 Image: DA campaign material highlighting Parliament\u2019s adoption of a motion to protect South African Hajj pilgrims from rising travel costs.<\/p><\/div>\n

Parliament has unanimously adopted a Democratic Alliance (DA) motion aimed at protecting South African Hajj pilgrims from escalating travel costs and safeguarding their rights. The motion, tabled by DA spokesperson on tourism Haseena Ismail MP, calls for urgent intervention by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), an investigation by the CRL Rights Commission into the South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC), and transparency through the Nusuk Hajj system.<\/p>\n

The decision follows widespread complaints from tour operators, Muslim organisations and ordinary pilgrims regarding SAHUC\u2019s alleged attempts to establish a monopoly over Hajj bookings. \u201cThere was an outcry within our Muslims in South Africa with regard to SAHUC now wanting to start having a monopoly on the Hajj,\u201d Ismail explained. She added that many feared the move would strip pilgrims of their right to choose and result in significant job losses within the tourism sector.<\/p>\n

According to Ismail, the issue escalated when SAHUC indicated it would transition from a pilgrims\u2019 affairs office into the sole tour operator for South Africans. \u201cThat is obviously unconstitutional. You\u2019re taking away the right of choice and the right of freedom,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Questions have also been raised about the handling of pilgrims\u2019 funds. Ismail pointed out, \u201cWhat right does SAHUC have to actually handle your funds for so many years and do whatever you want to with it without the consent of the person that actually gave you money?\u201d Allegations have surfaced of mismanagement and a lack of accountability.<\/p>\n

The DA MP confirmed that she has submitted written questions to DIRCO, engaged the CRL Rights Commission, and appealed repeatedly to SAHUC for transparency. \u201cIf you are saying that you are representing South African Muslims, you need to be accountable to the South African Muslims,\u201d she emphasised.<\/p>\n

Parliament\u2019s unanimous adoption of the motion signals cross-party concern. Ismail stressed that DIRCO must clarify whether the Saudi Hajj ministry has introduced new requirements and whether these justify SAHUC\u2019s claims of authority. She further highlighted the potential benefits of adopting the Nusuk Hajj app, already in use in other countries, to streamline bookings and reduce monopolistic practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about justice for South African Muslims. We want justice for our South African Hajjis. We want everybody to get the opportunity to go for Hajj,\u201d Ismail said.<\/p>\n

The next steps will depend on DIRCO\u2019s response and the outcome of investigations. For now, the motion ensures that the voices of South African pilgrims remain firmly on Parliament\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on Your World Today<\/em><\/a> with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie and Haseena Ismail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 19 September 2025 | 09:30 CAT Parliament has unanimously adopted a Democratic Alliance (DA) motion aimed at protecting South African Hajj pilgrims from escalating travel costs and safeguarding their rights. The motion, tabled by DA spokesperson on tourism Haseena Ismail MP, calls for urgent intervention by the Department of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":100661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995,4998],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa","category-ummah"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Hajj-DA.jpg?fit=393%2C488&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qby","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 01:22:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}