The announcement from SAHUC Photo Twitter @sahuchajj
South Africa – The South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) have announced they will be accrediting 1000 pilgrims from the “Ready to Go” list for Hajj 2023. With the first pilgrims set to depart around May 22, SAHUC has urged all those who are newly accredited to act fast.
The list first came about in April when SAHUC asked those who were financially able and ready to depart for Hajj at a moment’s notice to give their names forward in the event they get an increase in the quota. This was done to speed up the process as SAHUC had to go through 6000 applicants the first time to fill the 2 500 quota allocated to them originally, said Shaheen Essop, President of SAHUC.
“We need to be cognizant of the fact that we don’t have the luxury of time for people to be accredited. Whilst we welcome the quota, we also don’t want to be in a situation where the quota is sent back half filled. We created this list and we have in excess of 2000 names on this list stretching from the earliest date of application roundabout to December 31 2022.”
The 1000 is to be added on to the original 2 500, bringing the total quota number to 3 500. The accreditation has not been rolled out as yet as SAHUC was only informed yesterday about it. Various checks and measures first need to take place to make sure only those who are eligible to go are selected.
The packages offered by operators for Hajj
While the list is being vetted, operators are also working on the packages they will offer to the new 1000 pilgrims. Those who get accredited now should not expect to stay very long in the blessed lands, warned Essop.
“I think the Hujjaj who are on this ready to go list must resign themselves from the fact that they go for six weeks or five weeks. I don’t think time will be optimal in this regard because it takes almost two weeks for the applicant to accept the accreditation. Then the administrative process in the background is about ten days. We are looking at trying to get this out as soon as possible and people must accept that operators will only be offering four, three and two week packages.”
Those who are accredited now should also be wary that they will not receive the same packages at the same rates as the others.
“You can’t have the package that was put out in February 2023 to be available at the same rates now. Much has changed in terms of the dynamics of that package. First of all, the rates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may change. Secondly, the rand dollar exchange rate may have weakened considerably. As a result of that you have to put functionality into the whole perspective.”
Essop is hoping by Friday, the operators have finalised their packages and SAHUC can put out the accreditation list and send out the SMS. If all goes well, 3 500 Muslims from South Africa will be able to perform Hajj this year.
Shaheen Essop elaborates on the new accreditations and when the list will be available, To know more, listen to the discussion here:
