‘It’s still too risky to open mosques, even to 50 people’
AV MAHOMED, the chief trustee and a worshipper at the Grey Street Mosque for 66 years, said it did not matter if 50 or 500 people were allowed to worship – it was too much of a risk.
“The logistics are the same. The Grey Street Mosque (Juma Masjid) is the largest mosque in Durban and would require a considerable amount of effort to sanitise on the level that is required.
“For daily prayers, we normally get about 1 500 people. The numbers are multiplied on Fridays.
“Yes, the circumstances are depressing but to protect our people’s health is most important at this stage. We cannot risk taking any chances.”
In a statement sent later, the mosque said it would remain closed until the end of June when the situation would be reviewed.
Moulana Ebrahim Bham, the secretary-general of the Jamiatul Ulama
South Africa, said to reopen places of worship would allow spiritual care and counselling to people to be offered.
“We must, however, remember that the rate of infection is escalating at an alarming level.
“The need to act responsibly and within the confines of the regulations remains important.
“The opening of places of worship to a maximum of 50 people is not reflective of the deceleration of the pandemic but rather as a result of a migration from the strategy of isolation to a policy of behavioural change as a long-term governmental response to the protracted presence of the virus within our midst.”
Zehir Omar, a Gauteng attorney who went to court to challenge the lockdown regulations that prohibited gatherings, including in places of worship, questioned why only 50 people were allowed to attend a service at a time.
“This appears to be arbitrary and irrational, especially when malls and grocery stores do not have that rule. More people should be allowed to worship than just 50.”