HALAAL TALK

The broadcast of an investigative documentary on the Orion halal scandal on etv’s Third Degree on Tuesday evening had immediate impact when the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) was flooded with feedback from an irate public who blamed the ulema body over relabelled imported products. While the MJC had certifying 18 imported chicken consignments for the company in 2011, Orion Cold Storage was exposed in November after whistle blowers showed footage of staff deliberately relabelling imported products – including pork – as halal.

Responding on VOC’s

Breakfast Beat on Wednesday morning, MJC president, Maulana Igsaan Hendricks, stated that program host Debra Patta’s handling of the matter had been “unethical” and “insulting”, creating the impression that the MJC had never explained itself on this matter when there were numerous pubic statements made since November, most notable on VOC.

“We had placed on record on VOC and in many public statements that Orion’s actions are criminal. There is no debate on that. Etv and

3rd Degree had a good party last night that left the MJC as the guilty party in the face of the SA community.” He confirmed that the MJC had refused the interview with Patta, adding that the journalist “needed to learn the decency of making an appointment”.

“On the day that she came here, we had no trace of emails or even smses to confirm the interview for that day and time. We were all surprised when she and her crew virtually stormed the building of the MJC and kept it under siege for four hours. It is not normal practise when there is a set appointment, to duck and dive. However, according to last night’s program, it clearly appears that the MJC ‘abdicated’ its responsibility,” the alim said.

Under siege
According to Hendricks, during the tv crew’s “siege” of the MJC offices, he had sent a message that he would accede to the request for the interview the next morning. This did not materialise. He added that MJC deputy president, Sheik Achmat Sedick had indicated that he had received a call from the show’s producer for an interview and had “showed willingness”, but this too had not been confirmed. By the time the film crew arrived, Sedick had already been off on sick leave for two days.

Hendricks also explained that since his illness last year, he had not enjoyed “a normal presence” at the MJC offices. On the day in question, despite ill health, he had been at the MJC to attend an urgent meeting on another matter not related to the halal crisis. “It is indeed a sad day when the community cannot believe that alims can also take ill, despite our dedicated service to this community,” he lamented.

Hendricks said the ulema body has been bombarded with emails and other forms of public feedback after the program aired which indicates that the community believed the program’s assertion that “the MJC was guilty of lying”. “Yet the truth is that for the last month and a half, Sheik Achmat has been in and out of doctors offices in order to recover. I myself…2011 had not been kind to my health and as such, I had not enjoyed a normal presence at the MJC. Therefore I had not given many interviews over the last few months.”An irate Hendricks said Patta “speculated laughably” in the documentary, including about whose cars were parked outside the MJC offices.

He said it was only two days after

3rd Degree’s visit to the MJC that they received an email request for an interview two days later with a list of 25 questions. “However, by virtue of the manner in which they kept us under siege in our own offices, the unethical manner Patta approached us and her insulting attitude toward our secretary general, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Alie who is a person of splendid character and integrity, I as president of the MJC, took the decision not to give any interview to

3rd Degree in the future.”

According to Hendricks, the Orion scandal had been one of the most “insulting” incidents in the MJC’s 65 year history, which “despite our committed service to the community”, had made the ulema body a laughing stock. Asked to respond to the claim that its halal certification was only a “money making business”, the alim explained that the MJC made this service available to companies who wanted to be assured of halal consumption.

Transparancy
However, the question and the claim that the MJC was not fully “transparant and accountable” was a common refrain. “But the community never asks questions when we use the revenue generated from the halal certification to pour a quarter of a million rands into the International Peace Varsity South Africa (IPSA where our children go to gain knowledge; or when we use it to support imams who work in underprivileged communities, or when we subsidise educational institutions like the Al Azhar School. Regardless, we are ready to share such information with the community, as we have done in the past.”

He said the MJC was approached by people on a daily basis, “but no one can expect us to simply respond to anyone who has a request, when such a person could have an alternative agenda against the MJC. The sad part in all this is that we still have to deal with these matters, even when people become personal and attack individual personalities, or when people do not understand ethics of engagement.”

Hendricks reiterated that the MJC had severed all ties with Orion. “We have made it clear in all our previous statements on this matter, that Orion never enjoyed (full) halal certification from the MJC. Unlike any other outlet certified by the MJC as halal, they only enjoyed a facility where consigments (with certain imported products) were cleared by us.

“But when this story unfolded, we immediately suspended whatever limited relationship we had with Orion. When we further gaged that Orion did not take the responsibility or initiative to restore the damage done to the MJC, we instructed our legal team to sever all ties with them. We also informed the public and instructed them not to buy any products from them. I hope this has provided some clarity on the matter and in the days to come, we will continue to engage with the community in ongoing programs,” he concluded.