Cape Town – The legal team that successfully challenged the Department of Correctional Services in a landmark case involving a Muslim employee has stepped in to assist SANDF Major Fatima Isaacs, who faces dismissal for refusing to remove her headscarf.
Attorney Igshaan Higgins and advocate Rosaline Nyman were present in the Court of Military Justice at the Castle of Good Hope yesterday, where Isaacs was officially handed the charges.
Higgins and Nyman represented Fairouz Adams in 2006, a social worker at a Worcester prison who was axed for wearing a headscarf to work.
An out-of-court settlement was reached between the Department of Correctional Services and the Muslim Judicial Council.
SANDF spokesperson Mafi Mgobhozi said: “The SANDF can confirm that there was no court appearance scheduled for Major Fatima Isaacs on Wednesday (yesterday), July 10, as you enquired.
“The court date that was earlier promulgated still stands as August 7 at the Castle of Good Hope.”
Isaacs was charged with “wilful defiance, and disobeying a lawful command” for wearing a headscarf underneath her formal military beret.
The 47-year-old, a forensic pathologist at 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg, who has worked in the military for the past 10 years, argued that the scarf did not obstruct any military rankings or insignia, as she wore it under her formal military beret.
Higgins said they referred Isaacs to labour specialist Nazeema Mohamed and soon realised the magnitude of the matter thereafter and procured the services of advocate Nyman.
Isaacs’s matter was reported to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) by the Muslim Judicial
Council.
The SAHRC confirmed that they received a complaint from the Muslim Judicial Council.