Tony Kruger of Ballito writes:
I recently wrote a letter in which I addressed the failure to date of the involved parties (Docrra, Zululand Islamic Society and our elected town councillors) to find a mutually satisfactory resolution to the proposed establishment of a mosque in Butterfly Park.
I want to add the following: Based on press reports, Docrra to my mind has chosen a legalistic, even confrontational approach.
This will surely only damage and harm the building of a healthy Ballito community over the long and short term.
My question to Docrra is, what has it done to meet and problem solve the issue together with the ZIC?
The same question is also put to the ZIC.
On it’s website Docrra claims it “represents approximately 30 000 households on the Dolphin Coast”.
To publicly state they represent all the people who live in all these homes, is a weighty claim indeed.
It may be true, but would need substantiating. All 13 committee members appear to be white persons and, if not also members of a Christian church, I hazard to say none are Muslim or belong to any other religious/cultural groups.
This comment might be jumped upon as playing the ‘race card’, except I am white and church christened. I am deliberately saying this because I believe that the committee, well-educated judging by their CVs, needs to self-examine their underlying beliefs, searching for possible prejudices in respect of socio-economic, cultural and racial bias.
To end off, in the newspaper’s year-end edition, Docrra ‘reflects’ on 2022. Certainly, the organisation provides a valuable grass roots role in holding government to account.
But I do ask that when “following… issues closely… (including) the attempt to sell a portion of Townsend Park”, they also reflect on the importance of building an inclusive community, especially where local demographics continue to change in line with those in SA as a whole.
I call on both organisations, and also our local political representatives, to respond.
This issue dates as far back as 2017 and the failure to find a balanced resolution is damaging and sad indeed.
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