Cape Town - A well-known crime fighter is upset and angry after he was allegedly lectured by an “ignorant” traffic officer on how Muslims are trained to kill.
The man, who made a recording of part of the conversation, has now asked the City of Cape Town to take action against the official, who he says “scarred” him with his prejudice.
Schaapkraal Safety Forum chairman Redaa Ameeroedien said he was pulled over by traffic officers at about 6pm on Tuesday on Jan Smuts Drive, coming from Pinelands.
“It was a routine roadblock and the officer took my details," he said. "While the one went to check my details on the system, two stood by my window.
“One officer started lecturing me on Islam and telling me how we Muslims are taught from the Qur’an to kill anyone who associates any other God with Allah. The officer even stood there and Googled Islam.”
Ignorance
Ameeroedien said this went on for about 15 minutes, and he was shocked at the level of ignorance the official displayed. He only managed to film the tail end of the talk.
“This officer was very passionate about what he was talking about," he said. "The message I got was that Muslims are basically a threat to society. He even gave me history about the Prophet Muhammad. I tried to interject but then saw it was pointless.”
In the minute-long video recorded by Ameeroedien, a man can be heard saying: “So in other words, if you put a little God with Allah then you must be destroyed, basically. Like there in the jungle this ouens got little idols, their tree is their god, so they must be killed?”
Ameeroedien then tells the official he has to get to work and leaves.
“I work closely with my community," he said. "We try to break the division of race and religion and just fight for a common cause. He was telling me what we Muslims ‘really’ are and that shocked me.”
He said he decided to speak up because the man may be targeting other people.
“If you’re going around preaching hate, it only causes division," he said. "He’s part and parcel of the breakdown of society; he personally scarred me. I will seek counselling.
"I don’t want him to lose his job, but officials need to be educated as a matter of urgency.”
Diversity
The City’s executive director for safety and security, Richard Bosman, said discrimination would not be tolerated.
“The City will not tolerate any discrimination against any religion or any other hate speech from officials," he insisted. "The City encourages diversity and staff working in Traffic Services and every other department belong to different religions, including Islam,” he said.
“In order to take the matter further, a written complaint needs to please be submitted to my office so that the relevant affidavits can be obtained from the complainants and an internal investigation can be initiated.”