Pandor to address conference of Muslim women

Muslimah Today conference of South African Muslim women returns to Durban next weekend — August 31 and September 1 — after a successful launch last year.

This year, said organiser Fatima Asmal, it promised to be even more dynamic and diverse. The two-day event was created by the women’s branch of the Institute for Learning and Motivation South Africa, of which she is the director.

Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor will speak at the event, as will sociologist and author of Sophia Shafinaaz Hassim, Islamic scholar and political science lecturer Quraysha Ismail Sooliman, young refugee Kassa Zainab Barakamfitye, philanthropist Zuleikha Mayat and other social activists.

Asmal said the institute secured Pandor with the help of Deputy Home Affairs Minister Fatima Chohan, who spoke at last year’s conference.

She said her organisation aimed to attract women from various social backgrounds, including non-Muslims. Of those who would be attending, “the oldest is about 88 and the youngest 14 or 15”.

“After last year’s conference, women were not reluctant to speak,” she said.

The Muslimah Today 2013 Awards for Meaningful Contribution to the Upliftment of South African Society will also be presented. “The one thing they [the awardees] all have in common is that they hold humanity very close to their hearts.”

The conference will be held in the senate chamber on the University of KwaZuluNatal’s Westville campus. It begins at 9am on both days.

Registration, which closes on Wednesday, is R200 per person for both days. For further information, SMS or Whatsapp your name and contact details to 083-271-4500, or e-mail info@ilmsa.co.za.