Image: Salaamedia
Local – The CEO of the MJC Halaal Trust, Moulana Zakariyah Philander, has rejected claims that South Africans are being forced to eat halaal food after a viral social media video sparked debate over how many products on supermarket shelves are certified.
Philander said most products in South African supermarkets were not halaal certified. He said companies sought certification for economic reasons and market access, not because of pressure from the Muslim community, and that certification bodies had little or no authority over the industry’s decisions.
“There’s a definitive no to that. South Africans are not being forced to eat halal food. I think the reason perhaps why this topic is going viral, I don’t think it is as much about halal.”
Rise In Divisive Content
The debate has come amid concerns about a growing number of posts on social media that single out the Muslim community. The halaal discussion is one of several topics in recent months to draw anti-Muslim comments online, with some questioning whether the content is aimed at dividing South Africans along religious lines.
Philander urged South Africans to unite around issues such as poverty and crime. He said South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice had brought people together across religious and ethnic lines in support of victims of the genocide in Gaza, and that the Muslim community would be a likely target for anyone wanting to undermine that support.
“It is speculative at this time, but since the ICJ case we have seen an increase in this type of content coming out that is sort of putting the Muslims in a particular corner and sort of making the Muslim community distinct from the rest of the South African community.”
Open To All Businesses
Questions raised online have included who can apply for halaal certification, what it costs, and whether small businesses are being left out of the market. Some also pointed to a recent dispute in Khayelitsha, where largely non-Muslim service providers reportedly struggled to obtain halaal certificates to supply a local hospital.
Philander said the Khayelitsha matter had since been resolved, and that businesses did not need to be Muslim-owned to be certified. He said annual certification for small businesses started at R3,750, with lower rates possible for start-ups, and that the cost had no effect on the unit price of products. He said the logo existed so Muslim shoppers didn’t have to check every ingredient in every product they wanted to buy.
“So why is the halal logo on this biscuit, on this packet of biscuits? It is purely so that the Muslim consumer when they pick up that packet of biscuit they can feel confident that this product can be consumed by them. That is ultimately what it means.”
