Words: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp
On Saturday, about an hour before sunset, a long wooden table was prepared with a white tablecloth between the concrete flats and washing lines of Daphne Court in Heideveld, Cape Town.
The centre of the table was filled with a selection of fruit, dates and cool drinks.
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At about 6:45pm, about 100 people broke their fast as part of Ramadan, a month during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.
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The event was organised by Nurul Raghmaan, an organisation that organises religious events and food distributions to needy areas throughout the year.
Ebrahim Kamish, one of the organisers at Nurul Raghmaan, said Heideveld is rife with drug use and gangsterism. He said the iftaar (breaking of the fast) was organised as a reminder to the community ‘to keep the environment safe’ so that the youth feel welcome to join rather than do ‘drugs and gangsterism’. Gang members have never interfered with the mass iftaars, he says.
The organisation has been around for 11 years, while the public iftaars at the flats have been going on for about six years. Kamish says they also hold religious gatherings every Thursday throughout the year at different flats.
Three 100-litre pots of akhni (a rice dish), a 100-litre pot of soup, a 60-litre pot of noodles and savouries including samoosas, pies and cakes were served. A pot of food was donated to people living at a nearby informal settlement. The food was sponsored by various people and organisations, including the Falaah Foundation and the Mustadafin Foundation.
The next iftaars will be held at Rosa Court on Saturday, 6 April. On the last evening before Eid, the group will walk to several flats in Heideveld for a religious procession.
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Kamish says that they want to keep alive the legacy of the founder, Yusuf Karriem, who started the organisation 11 years ago. Karriem died in 2021.
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Picture: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp
