All indications are that the new moon will not be sighted on Thursday. This was the summation from the Crescent Observers Society (COS), following its pre-sighting assessment of the crescent this week. Capetonians are preparing to make their way to Three Anchor Bay this evening for the annual Eid moon-sighting. Each year during the climax of Ramadan, thousands of Muslims gather in Green Point for an iconic tradition that seeks to determine when locals will observe Eid ul-Fitr.

The COS, an organisation tasked with the monthly sighting of the moon, will this year be stationed at three other vantage points, including Signal Hill and Stellenbosch. The final decision on whether to bring an end to the month of fasting, will also be influenced by information from other parts of South Africa, including Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and even as far north as Beitbridge, near the border with Zimbabwe.

On the part of the COS, public relations officer, Faldie Davids said they would be following a strict process which would take into account several minimum criteria. Ultimately though, the final decision would be based on whether the moon was visible to the naked eye within a certain time frame around sunset.

“Thursday evening there will be exactly 40 minutes where we will see the moon above the horizon. When it gets closer to the horizon at a young crescent it becomes virtually impossible to see with the naked eye. You can say that from 35 minutes onwards we can start making our decision,” he said.

Other deciding factors included crescent age, width, visibility and illumination.

The new moon was born at 3.24am South African time, and at sunset, the crescent will be approximately 14 hours 32 minutes old. The possibility for sighting is therefore slim.

But Davids said a decision was likely to come well before Maghrib salaah, with communities up north likely to have already confirmed whether the moon was sighted or not. Based on the current state of visibility however, he said it was unlikely Muslims would be celebrating Eid on Friday; as much of the criteria were well below the minimum.

“We are using science just to give us guidance, but Allah knows best,” he stressed.

VOC is the official broadcaster and will take the event live from Three Anchor Bay from 4pm onwards. VOC (Mubeen Banderker)