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 'Is he a good Muslim?'
    Lee Rondganger
    January 24 2008 at 07:37AM 		Get IOL on your
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A Joburg imam - a Muslim priest - allegedly ran a lucrative illegal marriage scam for months from an office at his mosque in Joburg.

Together with two "runners", Imam Mohammed Rashaad Ramdin reportedly would lure unemployed single young women to the Mayfair mosque where he would "interview" them for a range of jobs.

But, say police, Ramdin's interviews were different to those of other employers.

In addition to taking down the usual details such as names, ID numbers and residential addresses, he also allegedly fingerprinted them and took an ID-size photo of them.

And to show he was genuine about the job offer, he would give the women R200 for "transport costs" and a cellphone on which he could contact them when the job became available.
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The women, however, would never receive that call about a job.

But - after getting a job elsewhere or after using their IDs - they would discover they were married to someone they had never met.

These are the state's allegations against Ramdin and his alleged runners, Mpho Moloi and Pulene Moame.

On Wednesday, a bearded Ramdin - wearing a kurta and kuffiya (traditional clothing) - appeared in the Johannesburg magistrate's court for the first time.

With him in the dock were Moloi and Moame.

The trio stand accused of contravening sections of the Home Affairs Act by running an illegal marriage scam in which they "married" an unknown number of South African women to illegal immigrants - mostly from Pakistan.

Ramdin, described by his lawyer, Emmanuel Giddion, as "a good Muslim", was arrested by members of the Organised Crime Unit on Tuesday.

Moloi and Moame were arrested in November but have been in police custody because they were denied bail at previous hearings.

Police are looking for a Nigerian believed to have been involved.

On Wednesday, prosecutor Talita Johsen did not oppose bail but insisted it be set at no less than R50 000 for Ramdin and that strict bail conditions be imposed.

These included his handing in his passport and not leaving his home, effectively placing him under house arrest.

Johsen said this was because the state believed Ramdin was part of a broader fake-marriage syndicate and that he could easily change his identity and skip bail if he was allowed to leave his home.

Giddion objected to such stringent bail conditions, arguing that his client was an imam and a good Muslim who needed to leave his house to attend mosque.

"Is he a good Muslim?" asked magistrate V Pienaar.

"Yes, he is a good Muslim, your worship - he prays five times a day every day," responded Giddion.

Pienaar ruled that Ramdin could leave his house to go to mosque but ordered him not to leave the district of Joburg and to hand in his passport to the police.

He was granted R50 000 bail.

Moloi and Moame were each given bail of R10 000.

According to investigators, Moloi and Moame would recruit unemployed single women and take them to Ramdin, who would send their details to corrupt Home Affairs officials so that fake marriage documents could be issued.

So far, the police know of at least five victims but believe there could be many more.

The case was postponed to February 13 for further investigations.



    • This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on January 24, 2008
Showing page 1 of 7 comment pages, 63 total comments
95 Weeks ago Deon wrote :
Being religious does not make one a good person. You can be good at your religion and still be evil hearted.
95 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
I totally agree that what the Imaam did is wrong. How ever why when it is a Muslim then the media must make mention of his religion. When it is a Christian nobady will say Christian person or preist. There are many people who caught in the pass with simmilar crimes but their religeon was not mention.
95 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
The imam should have his day in court and should be tried like a normal citizen of our country.If found guilty,he should serve his sentence like a man.To err is human.The imam should repent to God for his sins.People,this is the beauty of Islam.As muslims we are taught that even if it is our blood brother that has committed a crime,we have to let him face the consequences and not protect him from the law.
95 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
I am a Christian, but for the lawyer of this criminal to bring religion in this demonic acts is uncalled for. The lawyer should also be arrested for defeating the ends of religious groups. Charles Tshwane
95 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
If this is indeed true, than such a person can definitely not be regarded as a "good muslim".
95 Weeks ago Andelle wrote :
He committed a crime ,,he abused our people's right ..our people, yet he's still allowed to go to the mosque to pray..to say what exactly in his prayers?..Hayi bo that's so not on..he must go to jail like everyone else who does wrong to another human being. Think of the trouble these people will go thru now,,being married to someone you don't even know!!!! that's a nightmare...and they say he is a good muslim , do they even know the meaning of the word!!!!!!
95 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
What does being an imaam have to do with breaking the law he should be tried as a s.a. citizen not as a imaaam
95 Weeks ago CLN wrote :
I agree with many comments. Let the Iman face Shariah Law. I am sure during his term as an Iman he advocated and promoted the implementation of Shariah Law for society. Let him taste find hand the effects of Shariah Law.
95 Weeks ago MuslimGirl wrote :
Praying 5 times a day does not make one a good Muslim. He's not even a good imam! Any Muslim will know that you can't get married without permission from both parties. Those ladies are not married in Islamic law, but unfortunately are at Home Affairs - and hopefully that doesn't take too long too untangle.
95 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
let the courts decide first. if guilty they have the authority to apply the necessary penalties.
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