Durban - The National Interfaith Council of South Africa together with the Muslim community in Durban and Commission on religious affairs on KZN have joined hands to denounce the attack of worshipers in the country.
In a joint statement, released by Pastor Ziningi Jali from Interfaith EThekwini, Bishop Timothy Ngcobo of NICSA and Azard from the Imam Hussain Mosque in Verulam, the relious leaders express their shock at last weeks attack at the shia mosque.
Read the statement below:
This gruesome attack carried by the three antagonists of Muslim faith have put KZN sharply on the world map.
As religious leaders we want to remind the people of this province that on the 27th April 1994 we created an equal society where values identified in the country’s constitution are enjoyed by all.
Our constitution was designed specifically to protect all cultures and customs practiced by our people.
This is specifically meant to protect the all communities from any form of discrimination.
Today is a day on which we must recommit ourselves to respect and preserve the different traditions and emphasize the freedom of worship, religion and freedom of speech.
We must do so in respect and honour to individuals and organizations that participated in the struggle for a free South Africa.
Today South Africa as a country is crying out for moral regeneration.
The rate of crime and moral decay calls for a firm partnership amongst all citizens of this country who have its interests at heart.
The attack on the worshippers forms part of despicable crimes that we have seen in the country.
We have seen an increase in crimes such as the rape of senior citizens who are in the twilight of their lives; rapes committed by young men young enough to be grand children of their victims.
This brings into sharp focus the loss of virtue and conscience within our broader society, and our youth in particular.
The use of illicit drugs and abuse of other substances such as alcohol is rising.
Teenage pregnancies are a matter of rising concern.
The proliferation of illegal weapons makes it that much easier for criminals to rob and pillage hard working members of our society.
We know very well that some drivers of crime are rich people who exploit the small fry by sending them to commit crimes such as car high jacking of innocent motorists.
The rich send the petty criminals to rob motorists and cars are then sold at pitiable prices by the well-to-do, often resulting in the unnecessary deaths of the car owners.
Meanwhile the highjacker gets a little remuneration and has to go on and commit another similar crime in order to eke a living.
The spilling of blood in our province has unfortunately become a very simple and innocuous thing. Our people today think nothing of hurting or taking a life.
We as a country and society have lost our conscience.
It is therefore our duty as religious leaders to re-instill values that seem to have been collectively lost by our citizenry.
KwaZulu-Natal is a beautiful province with a huge potential in terms of tourism, for instance.
Yet with a growing reputation of lawlessness in our province, we are building and perpetuating a negative reputation which threatens to stifle this huge potential.
This is a self-defeating mode as we all know that tourism is a very lucrative source of foreign and local income with a potential to contribute millions of rand into our coffers and also create a lot of jobs.
As a society we seem to have lost our core values which stem from stable families.
The nuclear family has broken down. Fathers are absent, mothers seem not to care, and children know no better.
As families form the nucleus of communities, how do we expect viable communities if family life has broken down?
It is up to parents to ensure that their children are instilled with basic human values such as respect, discipline, tolerance and the valuing and appreciation of the rights of others.
Self-respect is instilled by stable and strong family values.
Once a person respects themselves, they are bound to respect the rights and honour of the next person.
From there the respect cascades to others around us, and thus a stable and humane society.
As South Africans we are striving to build a society that respects humans for their humanness, a country where Ubuntu reigns supreme.
Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are a shining example to the whole world of our commitment to freedom and respect of human rights.
Yet we as a society still struggle to live up to this shining example.
It is therefore a challenge for us all to rise up and live up to the virtues for which our departed leaders such as Albertina Sisulu and Nelson Mandela and other great compatriots and comrades made great sacrifices.
We owe it to our compatriots, children and grand children – in short our current and future generations – to build and sustain a stable society that will live up to our great and respected constitution and remain a shining example for the whole world as to what a truly democratic society should be like.
We want to once again condemn that barbaric attack at the Shia Mosque, Verulam, North of Durban
Muslims make up about 1.9% of South Africa’s 55 million population, with most following the Sunni Muslim denomination. Our country has not seen seen such an attack over the years.
Muslims remain committed to an ethos of showing love to all and respect for the sacred values and places of all Muslims and other faith traditions.
Therefore, as religious leadership, we are united in condemnation of the atrocious crime, regardless of its possible nature.
We express our sincere condolences to the bereaved families and the community.
We are calling upon all the people of this province to work with government to fight crime.
Support must be given to police, to reservists, to police volunteers, community safety forums, street committees.
The truth however is that police interventions always come after the crime has been committed.
Critically, the leaders of faith must also play a role. It is the leaders of faith that can reach to the consciences of all people to make them honest and avoid committing crime.
We need to conduct the campaign against crime as society and not just feel that we have no roles to play we will only succeed if we work together.
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