The Saudi Arabia Ministry for Hajj and Umrah has announced a significant change to hajj logistics for the upcoming 2026 Hajj season by announcing that the only hajj operators allowed to operate in the kingdom for South African hujaaj are ones based in Saudi Arabia, seemingly ending the hajj operator industry in South Africa.
Speaking to VOC News, Shaheen Essop, a board member of the South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC), explains that this rule applies to nations that have less than 5000 pilgrims, which would include the Republic.
“What the ministry has basically done is that they’ve indicated that the service providers inside Saudi Arabia, together with the hajj mission for countries where there are less than 5000 pilgrims, will basically organize the hajj for that country. They are excluding traditional hajj operations on the basis that the service provider will do the necessary contracting for on-the-ground arrangements,” explains Essop.
This has been met with shock by some in the industry, with Sedick Steenkamp, director of Al Safir Tourism, stating that it is an earth-shattering announcement that was unexpected and that more information is needed before a decision could be taken on the way forward.
“We don’t really have all the answers at the moment, but currently we have to consider our options; however, we cannot do that as there are a lot of questions that require answers. So currently it’s very early days, but inshallah we will sit down and look at how we take things forward,” said Steenkamp.
Sheikh Imran Saban, Western Cape Head of Hajj and Umrah for XL Flywell Travel, concurs with Steenkamp that more time was needed to ascertain the way forward but theorizes that the changes won’t reduce prices for hujaaj given previous policy changes by the ministry.
“We’ve seen that in there are changes in the last couple of years where prices only went up when they introduced a new service. So this has been proven, so for it to go down, that would be a surprise,” added Saban.
