By Ragheema Mclean

The South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) has issued a reminder to prospective pilgrims emphasizing the limited timeframe for acceptance or deferral of accreditation for Hajj 2024.

With only four days left for accredited pilgrims to confirm their status, SAHUC set a deadline of December 31, 2023, at 6PM.

Speaking on the VOC Breakfast show on Thursday, SAHUC President Moaaz Casoo said just over 1100 pilgrims who have accepted their accreditation thus far.

However, of these approximately 400 individuals had not yet selected their travel operators. Casoo highlighted that these individuals have until 4 January 2024 to select an operator adding that failure to comply would result in a 30-point penalty.

“We gave the prospective Hujaaj on the first accreditation list sufficient time to accept or defer.”

“SAHUC has been sending regular reminders to prospective Hujaaj via email and SMS. We’ve also communicated via our social media platforms.”

“Should pilgrims have any queries we have communicated with them that they have to log any concerns via our website on www.sahuc.co.za.”

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised regarding several Mutamireen facing issues with travel operators failing to fulfil promises made to them for Umrah visits.

In response to these incidents, Casoo advised affected individuals to take immediate action by filing a case at the police station.

“Unfortunately to my knowledge, these people are not accredited Umrah operators, and we have urged people numerous times in the past not to engage with operators who are not accredited by the ministry of Hajj for Umrah visits specifically.”

He further stressed the importance of engaging only with accredited operators recognized by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, cautioning against unaccredited parties.

“Because these parties are not accredited it is going to be very difficult for the ministry to try and assist them.”

“This is not something that happens once in a lifetime it’s a reoccurrence where we find people are taking our money and leaving them stranded”.

Should these individuals require any assistance, Casoo added,

“Individuals can contact SAHUC at 010001910 or log complaints on our website.”

Additionally, they can log a complaint on our website, and SAHUC will facilitate contact details for the Ministry of Hajj, enabling affected individuals to address their grievances directly.

VOC News

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