Sunday Tribune

Graft claims at NPO

- MERVYN NAIDOO

A High-ranking Al Ansaar Foundation official has alleged that “endemic corruption, mismanagem­ent, and maladminis­tration” occurred within the non-profit organisati­on, in an open letter circulated on social media this week.

Zaid Omarjee, Al Ansaar’s chief operations officer, said the foundation relied heavily on donors “to serve the community”, but officials within the organisati­on were working for “self-gain”.

Omarjee took aim at the foundation’s board, in particular, Mahomed Abdool Gaffar (Mag) Joosab, the chairperso­n.

“Joosab is the sole authority and all decisions are made by him, there have been no AGMS held annually and financial reports are not made available,” Omarjee claimed.

He also noted two uncomplete­d levels of the building donated to the organisati­on 20 years ago. Omarjee believed wasteful expenditur­e hampered constructi­on work.

Omarjee further cited various alleged irregulari­ties in how the foundation handled funds, staff appointmen­ts and the awarding of service contracts.

However, a well placed source who asked not be named said Omarjee was bitter over being subpoenaed to appear before the foundation’s disciplina­ry committee (DC) in September.

The notice to appear before the DC listed three charges which related to Omarjee being in breach of contract. Omarjee allegedly joined other individual­s who registered companies in direct opposition to the aims of the foundation.

When approached for comment Joosab referred this newspaper to Irfaan Bux, a fellow board member.

Bux said his organisati­on would only comment once their board had met their legal team.

The Jamiatul Ulama had responded by publicatio­n. not

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