Following a jam-packed roadshow at the weekend, the South African Haj and Umrah Council (Sahuc) has released its accredited list of haj operators for Haj 1436. Sahuc has urged prospective hujjaj to book with these tour operators this haj season as they have been endorsed by the regulator.

1. Al Husam
2. Al Anwar Haj and Umrah
3. Al Nur Travel Xpress Haj and Umrah
4. Al Mujaahiedeen Haj and Umrah
5. Basheer Travels
6. Fazela Malek T & T
7. Khidmatul Awaam Pilgrim Services
8. Nujoomul (Colorado Park masjid)
9. Nurul Ain Haj and Umrah
10. Rasools Travel
11. Shafiqs Travel and Tours
12. Shaheed Haj Jamaah
13. Sure Mirage Travel
14. Travel and Tour world
15. Travel Unlimited
16. Umra Tours and Nuri Travel
17. World of Travel
18. XL Flywell Travel
19. Yasmines Travel and Tours
20. Yusrah Tours

Sahuc president Shaheen Essop advised that this did not mean that the tour operators not featured on the list were blacklisted. Some operators for example have chosen not to do haj travel this year, but only umrah.

While the information session on Saturday proved to be helpful in understanding the logistics for this year’s pilgrimage, the roadshow was different as travel operators could not advertise the costs of their packages. According to Sahuc president Shaheen Essop, the board of the Muassasah [haj establishment] for Africa had changed its chairperson and deputy chairperson and therefore, operators could not conclude their prices.

Sahuc is hoping to get all necessary information from the Muassasah and ministry to conclude the packages. The haj regulator will compile a dossier of all 20 travel operator’s packages, which will be emailed to the accredited hujjaj. All travel operators must have a minimum of 50 hujjaj to be able to operate this year.

Meanwhile, prospective hujjaj will now pay R1000 to finalise the accreditation process this year. Sahuc announced this weekend that its administration costs had increased by R100, as a result of overall price changes.

“Notwithstanding the increases in accommodation for the haj mission, the rand dollar exchange rate has weakened year on year by 20%,” Essop explained.

“According to our treasury, the cost per pilgrim for Sahuc’s services is R1486. Based on this calculation, pilgrims are still being subsidised,” he added.

Sahuc will release its accreditation list in the next few weeks following the go-ahead from its internal auditor.

“We know we have a quota of 2000. But in the past years, we always saw a 40% – 50% drop out rate in the quota. In order to minimise the drop out and cut back on the release of additional lists, we are going to sanitise this before we official release the list,” Essop concluded.

Click here to view the contact details for the approved haj operators:  SAHUC Accredited Hajj Operator List – 1436H (2015) VOC