Forgiveness, reconciliation and healing were in the air on Friday as hundreds of Athlone students, teachers and activists marched the same road where three youngsters were shot dead by police in 1985. Two police officers were among those who laid colourful wreathes at the site in Thornton Road to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Trojan Horse Massacre. On October 15 that year, a truck loaded with crates drove down […]
The fact that Cabinet minister Des van Rooyen may have more to hide could have an influence on his attempt to block the release of outgoing Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report into "state capture". According to a BBC report, secret cellphone records place Van Rooyen at the Gupta home the evening before President Jacob Zuma sacked finance minister Nhlanhla Nene. According to a BBC source, the cellphone records are evidence […]
President Jacob Zuma and Local Government Minister Des Van Rooyen’s applications to interdict the Public Protector’s "state capture" report will be heard on November 1. This meant that Thuli Madonsela would not release the interim report on Friday. She would, however, still brief the media about her other reports. Van Rooyen's interdict hearing would merge with a separate bid by Zuma and be heard in the High Court in Pretoria […]
Umrah tour operators are meeting this weekend in a bid to avert a crisis in the umrah industry, amid a public outcry over the cost of umrah visas. South African Muslims are up in arms, with some calling for a boycott of the umrah. While there is very little information coming through from the Saudi Kingdom, authorities announced that the visa increases would come into effect from October. However, the […]
Due to bad weather conditions forecasted for this Sunday, VOC has postponed its Muharram Family Picnic to Sunday 30th October. Organisers said it was a difficult decision to make, and with Cape Town's unpredictable weather, they did not want to risk the chance of rain on Sunday. The events team said it was disappointed that it had to postpone the event, but confident that more people would be able to […]
Masjidul Aqsa exclusively belongs to Muslims and there is no archaeological or historical connection to Judaism. This was the outcome of a ground-breaking vote for a UNESCO resolution on Thursday regarding the status of the contentious Al Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, which has been at the centre of a battle between Israel and Palestine for decades. Masjidul Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Makkah […]
UNESCO today voted on a resolution which denied any Jewish connection to Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Buraq (Western) Wall in occupied Jerusalem. Twenty-four member states voted in favour of the resolution, six against and 26 abstained. The proposal was put forward by Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Sudan and the Palestinians. Outlining that the city is holy to all three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the resolution says Al-Aqsa […]
President Francois Hollande told the authors of a book just published that France has "a problem with Islam" and there are too many immigrants arriving in the country who "shouldn't be here". Hollande made the controversial remarks to the authors of A President Shouldn't Say That... in December 2015, a month after gunmen attacked Paris, killing 130 people. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) […]
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that the Syrian army's capture of Aleppo, which has come under renewed bombardment in an effort to seize its rebel-held sector, would be "a very important springboard" to pushing "terrorists" back to Turkey. Rescue workers said that Syria's military backed by Russian warplanes had killed more than 150 people in eastern Aleppo this week, in support of its offensive against the city. Rising […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
