CHAPTER 4 HAJJ AND FINANCE
4.3 ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCIES TO FACILITATE HAJJ
4.3.3 TRAVEL AGENTS / HAJJ OPERATORS
It has been the tradition of the Cape Muslims from the mid 20' century to pay off their hajj travel fare over a period of time as well as their accommodation in Mecca to their respective travel agents or hajj operators. Moniebah Razack who used to work for Booley's Travel in the 1960s informed me that the tea girls and cleaners who had worked in central Cape Town used to visit her office in Leeuwen Street, Bo-Kaap, every Friday afternoon after work and would take R5 00 out of their wage envelope and pay (her) towards their airticket. The factory workers, such as machinists would pay off R25 00 per
Oft
week and if they had more money to spare, they would give her more.
The first hajj jama" ah, the Sorayah (Thurayyah) Hajj Jama"ah, was established in 1981 by Armien (Amln) Davids and Yusuf Adams as a non-profit operator. Every week at Hajji Armien's residence, after Imam Abdullah Gameeldien had conducted his hajj classes, a meeting was held with the prospective hajjis. Some people paid R100-00 per week, to the jamd"ah whereas others paid R50-00.27 In 1983, the jamd"ah, launched a scheme for the benefit of the hajjis. They also succeeded in negotiating with a leading airline to provide the lowest fare from Cape Town to Jeddah. The provisional amount that was released by the Sorayah Hajj Jama"ah was Rl, 289-00. After the aspiring pilgrims had paid for their tickets, they would receive a rebate of Rl45-00 from the jama ah. The hajj jama"ah had also offered the hajjis accommodation in Mecca and in Medina at competitive prices. The first trip was undertaken in 1983.28
The rebate that was given to the hajjis caused dissatisfaction amongst travel agents.
Wahid Kazi, managing director of a Lansdowne travel agency, had stated that it would be against international air travel regulations for a travel agent or for an airline to offer any
sort of "kick-back"/bribe on a normal fare. F. Galant of the Sorayah Hajj Jama^ah had informed Muslim News that the R145 00 rebate would be given by a travel agent who would be managing their bookings. He had also invited prospective hajjis to make use of the service his organisation had offered. After further investigation, it appeared that the airliner did not offer the rebate. When Peter Geldenhuys, a representative of a Cape Town travel agency with whom the Sorayah Hajj Jama"ah had apparently negotiated the deal, was approached, he categorically stated that they did not offer the rebate, but that it was given by the Sorayah Hajj JamcCah. Peter Geldenhuys said that they only get a nine percent commission on each booking and that it would not have been possible to part with any discount to another party. F. Galant, on the other hand asserted that this deal with the travel agent was approved in black and white and signed. Peter Geldenhuys once again denied that any papers were drawn and signed.29
It was eventually discovered in an interview with F. Galant that the Sorayah Hajj Jamd^ah had offered the rebate to hajjis and not the travel agency. In the meantime, Alitalia, British Airways and Iberia representatives in Cape Town, on being questioned by MusUms concerning the rebate, they confirmed that it would be highly irregular for a airliner or travel agent to offer any rebate to a passenger. The British Airways Cape Town manager emphatically stated that they would never had been able to afford it in the first place.30
In 1983, a hajji could travel with the Sorayah Hajj JamaKah for approximately R3, 500- 00 including the air ticket and accommodation. According to Imam Abdullah Gameeldien:
"Sorayah Hajj Jama"ah, who has been in existence all these years, the system of paying off for the hajj has not changed at all. People are aware that the moment they pay a deposit for the purpose of hajj that they are committing themselves to undertake the sacred journey to Mecca. However, members of our jama"ah who had saved their hajj money at Albaraka Bank Limited, must submit a letter to the Bank, issued by us, confirming that they would be traveling with us. In the 1980s the moment a hajj operator arrived in Jeddah, he had to pay on behalf of every hajji a fee of 247 Saudi Riyal landing tax, which was included in the hajj operator's package".
The late Imam Abu Bakr Simon who was the imam of the Halil al-Rahman Masjid in District Six, Cape Town, had planned in 1980 to take a group of people on hajj. Over a period of four years the potential hajjis had paid off their total cost of hajj. Every Saturday afternoon after the hajjis had attended the hajj classes at the masjid, they would pay whatever hey could afford to Abduragmaan Gallic He would issue receipts to the hajjis and thereafter Ahmad Kasker, director of Travel Unlimited would collect the cash.32
Al-Jama" ah li al Nusrah al-Hujjaj was established in 1986. The reason for the establishment of the jama"ah was to determine the best possible rates for the hajjis. G Jacobs, M Basadien and M G Perin were appointed to serve on the executive to ensure the proper functioning of the organisation. The priority of the jama"ah was to arrange bayts (houses/accommodation) for the hajjis in Mecca and Medina at an inexpensive rate They would also negotiate with the travel agents for maximum discounts, which would be passed on to hajjis, after deduction of administration fees. No members of the
organisation would benefit financially as all monies collected from the hajjis would be kept in trust by the Trust Bank until required by the jamaKah to finalise arrangements.
The jama^ah requested that the books of the account be scrutinised by members of the Muslim Judicial Council at any time at their general meetings. The jama ah would also endeavour to solve problems which might occur during the hajj and be responsible for conducting hajj classes under the guidance of Shaykh Sulayman Mosaval.
Currently, the method of paying off for a hajj package has become more sophisticated.
Al-Anwar Hajj and ^Umrah Group allow their clients to pay off the complete package for hajj. However, the client first needs to pay a deposit of not less than R3 000 00.
Thereafter the client's name is recorded on the computer as a potential hajji. Al-Anwar Hajj and yUmrah Group would supply banking details to the potential hajji if he/she intended to make direct deposits into their banking account. A copy of the deposit slip is presented to Al-Anwar Hajj and "Umrah Group, at which time a receipt is issued to the potential hajji. It is required of the potential hajji to pay the balance of the debt/contract price one month before the actual departure of hajj.35 Rafeeq (Rafiq) Harris of Al-Anwar Hajj and "Umrah Group, stated that the group prefers cheques to be deposited into then- account, as it is much safer than to handle cash at the offices. He also asserted that in 2005, the group had lost more than a R100,000-00 because of cash deposits.36