Durban - By the end of this year, the property surrounding the Juma Musjid (Grey Street Mosque) could be restored.
On Tuesday, New National Assurance Company and Halifax Insurance Brokers handed over a cheque with an undisclosed insurance settlement to the Juma Musjid Trust that oversees the running of the property.
Last month, seven families living in the two-storey, 90-year-old building fled their homes after a fire started in one of the flats and spread.
The 139-year-old musjid, situated on the same premises, was not affected.
Advocate AB Mohamed, the trust chairperson, said the damage was significant.
“All seven units were completely destroyed and the roof had collapsed. Fortunately, the flooring was not affected. To some extent, water had seeped through to the shops below which suffered some damage as well. The mosque itself was untouched.
“We relocated some of the tenants to lodging premises. Those who did not have insurance cover had an immediate response from businessmen like Yusuf Kajee, who lived in this area for many years. He generated R1.5million and (businessman) Vivian Reddy gave R500000.
“This money is exclusively for the affected families and they were happy to manage it themselves, which was perfect for us. This will take care of their requirements such as fridges, stoves and furniture.”
Mohamed said now that they had the insurance settlement, they were striving to restore the building in the next two months.
“We would need to beat the rainy season and are hoping to get roofs up. We have received some tenders but we are looking at more. One of the requirements is that the contracting party must have full compliance with the government. We would like to have started yesterday, but within the week we can confirm when we will start to rebuild.”
New National Assurance Company managing director Kalim Rajab said: “These things can only work efficiently if there is a good, trusting relationship between the insured, broker and the insurance company. In this case, we were able to work seamlessly together.”
Sarfaraz Mahomed Rasool, director of Halifax Insurance Brokers, added: “The efficiency of the way the whole disaster was handled by the board of trustees, insurer and brokers must be commended. I have never seen, in my experience, a claim of this size being paid out in record time.”
POST