Donors have been told to be wary of organisations they donate to this Ramadan. Failing to do background checks could get them in trouble with authorities.
Ziyadh Hoorzook, a Johannesburg resident, landed in hot water after officials were alerted to a transaction he made in 2017. His attorney claims he has no recollection of the R11 500 cryptocurrency transaction.
But Hawks believe the amount was used to purchase Bitcoin via Luno, from where it was channelled to a self-styled “independent charity”.
He now faces charges for allegedly contravening the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act.
Attorney Yousha Tayob said this should not deter individuals and businesses from donating to charity.
“Please continue to give, just establish the legitimacy of the organisation you’re giving it to for charitable purposes,” he said, in an interview with Salaamedia on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, if it has the ‘jihad’ word in it, I would stay away from it until we can establish to the South African and world community that jihad is not the violence that they see, jihad is substantially more than that,” he continued.
Hoorzook appeared in the Lichtenburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. He will return for bail on Friday.
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