E-mail storm: apology accepted

SENIOR members of the Westering Muslim community have accepted an apology issued by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) staff member Hazel Kendrick for a discriminatory e-mail sent last month.

Sadick Davids, an Amier of the Westering Muslim community, confirmed the apology had been accepted.

He said the letter, which they had received two weeks ago, had been distributed to community representatives early last week, with the majority voting to accept the apology.

“We sent them [Kendrick’s attorney] a letter saying her apology had been accepted,” Davids said.

“We requested that she issue an apology to the people she had initially sent the e-mail to, post the apology on her Facebook page and also have the apology placed in the newspaper.”

Last month, Kendrick sent an e-mail in which she complained about a mosque operating in Westering.

Initially, she claimed her e-mail account had been hacked.

The e-mail read: “It seems that Muslim[s] love to push their religion on the western world and expect us to tolerate and accept this, but it is about time that we as western[ers] stand up and say enough is enough.”

The e-mail was posted on social media, quickly drawing heated responses.

The letter states: “I would like to tender my most humble and unequivocal apologies for the insensitive and inappropriate e-mail which received wide publication.

“It was never my intention to be deprecatory of the Muslim faith.

“Now that I have had an opportunity to consider my actions I understand that the mail was hurtful, disrespectful and finds no place in South African society.”

NMMU spokeswoman Zandile Mbabela said Kendrick, who sent the e-mail from her NMMU account, had appeared before a disciplinary inquiry on Friday.

“The investigation was concluded and the outcome referred to the human resources directorate which took a decision to proceed with disciplinary action,” Mbabela said.