More needs to be done to unite South Africans, says Gauteng finance MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko

Gauteng MEC for Finance Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said there must be a more concerted effort to unite all South Africans and promote peace and unity.

Nkomo-Ralehoko was speaking during the Ifthar dinner (fast breaking) at the Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand on Saturday.

She was representing Gauteng Premier David Makhura who was unable to attend due to national government commitments.

The Fountain Education Trust hosts the Ifthar dinner on an annual basis, and brings together people from across different religious and ethnic groups to promote peace, mutual understanding and social cohesion by embracing the concept of ubuntu and reconciliation.

Some of the attendees this year included Constitutional Court judge Justice Jody Kollapen, and internationally renowned scholar, speaker and social activist Professor Farid Essack.

The evening of “friendship and unity” also comes after anti-crime protests in Diepsloot turned violent this week and led to a vigilante attack on a Zimbabwean national, Elvis Nyati, with the mob killing and burning him.

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Speaking to The Citizen, Nkomo-Ralehoko said there needs to be more events that brings people of different races, religions and ethnicity together to promote peace and harmony.

“They are diverse indeed, but they are bringing other communities from the Gauteng province and part of those NPO’s and NGO’s that I have met are responsible for taking care of the needy in the province, and they are working very closely with the schools, which I think is part of the things that our government is prioritising – making sure that those who are in need are taken care of.”

Ali Katırcıoğlu, a Turkish businessman fondly known as Uncle Ali, who built the Nizamiye Mosque and spoke in Turkish, said he was honoured to host the dinner that brought many people together.

“Africa’s beautiful people and having your beautiful faces together makes me so happy, and from the bottom of my heart and very sincerely I welcome you, and my prayer is in the future we will have many more gatherings together in peace and in harmony.”

Construction on the Nizamiye mosque began in October 2009 and was completed in 2012, with the basic plan of the mosque adopted from the 16th-century Ottoman Selimiye Mosque in Turkey.

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