Ramadan in South Africa

Samina Anwary is the Media Officer for Islamic Relief South Africa. In her blog she reflects on the benefits of reaching everyone in need of help this Ramadan, regardless of their faith or origin.
“Two hours to go. Just two hours until the sun finally dips below the horizon and I know that soon the awkward emptiness I feel in the pit of my stomach will be filled with dates, fruit, samosas and hot soup. Topped off with some pink, rose-flavoured milk, I will have what I and many other South African Muslims of Indian and Malay origin would consider to be the perfect iftar.

“At the end of a long day, I am safe in the knowledge that there will be food on my table every day this Ramadan. But that is because I am a part of the lucky half of the South African population that lives above the poverty line. The other 50 per cent who live in what is often indescribable poverty, are not so fortunate. They are forced to show this kind of self-restraint all year round because they can never be sure they will have food at the end of their day.

“Mariam Umali is a refugee from Zimbabwe whose husband was killed during the xenophobic attacks that gripped South Africa in May 2008. I met her because she has recently become a part of Islamic Relief’s refugee programme which means that she will get assistance to pay her rent, buy food and send her children to school.

“Mariam supports her five children, as well as her sister and her children on a small income. Four families including Mariam’s share one small room at the front of a house that has been divided into cubicles using sheets to give a little bit of privacy. As a refugee with no papers she has to pay a lot of money for this basic accommodation.

“Whenever possible she sends as much food and money as she can to her other sister who lives in Malawi and her five children, two of whom have tuberculosis.  A couple of days ago when she was given a Ramadan food parcel by Islamic Relief, she told me, “I was supposed to send this food to my family in Malawi but it wasn’t possible. When I eat this food it makes me sad that I have it and they don’t.”

“But Mariam does not have much to give. Every day she and her family eat a basic meal of ground corn porridge when the time comes to break their fast. She struggles to pay her rent, and constantly worries about whether she will have enough money to be able to feed her children and continue sending them to school. Her ambition is to see her children get an education and live a better life than hers.

“There is a lot of social inequality in South African society, with a massive gulf between the rich and the poor. This is also the case in the Muslim community, which is why Islamic Relief South Africa raises money from the same areas in which it implements relief and development programmes. 

“We provide assistance here on the basis need rather than faith, which often surprises but also pleases those we assist. Around 90 per cent of the orphans and vulnerable children we support are not Muslim, and many non-Muslims also benefit from the Ramadan food distributions we carry out every year.

“A strong team of Islamic Relief volunteers works tirelessly before Ramadan to raise money from the wealthier portion of South African society. With these funds we provide a month’s supply of food for vulnerable people including orphans, widows, the elderly and children affected by HIV. We also provide food supplies to mosques in and around Cape Town which allows them to prepare nutritious soup for people who cannot afford to buy food for iftar. 

“In a country whose past has been scarred by division and apartheid, and whose present is racked with economic and social discrepancies, the work we are doing to reach those in need in critical. Reaching out to people no matter what their beliefs or where they are from is an important part of what Islamic Relief does here in South Africa, in Ramadan as well as throughout the year.”