Commissioner at centre of Islamophobia storm

A commissioner at the CRL faces allegations of Islamophobia after starting a petition against a mosque in Valhalla.

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Johannesburg - A commissioner at the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) faces allegations of Islamophobia after starting a petition against a mosque in Valhalla.

The CRL commissioner, Richard Botha, is said to have compared the mosque to a brothel during an interview with 702 Talk Radio.

Botha, who is a spokesman and legal adviser for the Valhalla Cultural Committee, has vehemently denied the allegations levelled against him by the Thaba Tshwane Islamic Centre Trust, a Muslim religious group.

The group is represented by well-known radio personality and Social Cohesion advocate Yusuf Abramjee.

In an interview with The Sunday Independent, Botha said people should listen to the interview on 702 and hear what he actually said.

“I never said a mosque is like a brothel. What I asked the interviewer was: What will happen if a government comes and builds a brothel next to the mosque without proper consultation? Wouldn’t the Muslims complain?”

Botha also threatened to sue Abramjee for defamation.

Abramjee has alleged that Botha made several inflammatory statements and publicly compared a mosque to a brothel and that he didn't declare that he was a member of the CRL rights commission.

He added that Botha had been vocal in opposing the building of the mosque on land that had been donated by the City of Tshwane to the Islamic Trust.

He said the commission had noted their complaint and had requested them to write a formal complaint so that the case could be investigated.

“We want him expelled immediately as a commissioner and we want a full investigation into his Islamophobic comments,” said Abramjee.

Asked if there was any conflict of interest in his position as a commissioner, Botha said: “When I was interviewed as a commissioner in 2014, I declared my interests regarding the Valhalla issue and even on Wednesday (the day the CRL met them) I recused myself from taking part in the meeting. I was outside when the meeting took place and I don’t see any conflict of interest in this issue.”

Botha acknowledges that he wrote the petition.

He said the petition raised three things of concern to the Valhalla residents, namely: that the consultation process wasn't done properly by the city, and the issues of noise pollution and traffic congestion.

Attempts to contact the chairwoman of the CRL commission, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, failed. However, CRL spokesman Mpiyakhe Mkholo said the CRL had met on Wednesday with representatives of the Thaba Tshwane Islamic Centre Trust and the Valhalla Cultural Committee.

Mkholo said the Muslim group laid a complaint about the challenges it had been experiencing in connection with building a mosque as well as statements it said bordered on Islamophobia.

On the other hand, the Valhalla Cultural Committee complained about the lack of consultation by the City of Tshwane.

During the meeting, the CRL had been made aware of utterances allegedly made by Botha.

Sunday Independent