Congratulations to Professor Avinash Govindjee

To Mr. Dev Govindjee ( International cricket match referee), you must be so proud of your son. My heartiest congratulations to you and your family. Please convey my regards to Avinash....Can I be the first to take Avinash for lunch :)))))

Congratulations to the Law Faculty’s Prof Avinash Govindjee on being chosen as one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans – the publication’s feature of young South Africans you should take to lunch. These are young people who will shape our country in the decades to come, in the sporting arena, in public life and in business.

The two hundred young South Africans who make the final list each year, are divided into a variety of categories: Arts and culture; Business and law; Civil society; Education; Environment; Film and Media; Health; Politics and Government; Science and technology; and Sport. Prof Govindjee was included in the Business and Law category.

In 2011 and 2012, he was the recipient of Researcher of the Year for his faculty. He is an attorney of the High Court and a senior commissioner of the CCMA. He was included in the second Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s Top 40 under 40, a list of young business achievers published towards the end of last year.

Iirosa Interfaith dialogue and conference held in Umhlanga, South Africa

The International Islamic Relief Organization from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia held an interfaith dialogue and conference in Umhlanga, South Africa a few weeks ago. My good friend Mr. Gopaul Angappan was present at the event. This is what he wrote to me:

"The solution to problems worldwide can only be solved by a united effort of religious organizations.
On the first day of the conference there were about twenty of us at Iirosa to meet and welcome the guests from the Kingdom. I requested Dr Al-Noah to talk on the Al Mahdi and to my astonishment he stated that was his mission. Dr Al -Noah who is a descendant of the Prophet (pbuh) stated he had a dream of the Al Mahdi and the time is near for him and Jesus to come down to earth. On the second day he gave a detailed account on the life of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).On numerous occasions we exchanged greetings and shook hands with his delegation from Saudi Arabia .I also attended lunch time prayers conducted by him. To me it was a divine journey in my spiritual life."

                               Fatima Princess of Morocco who was registering and assisting guests .
                               Most elegant full of love and confidence. I was blessed to receive the
                               Holy Quraan from her

                                                            Lunch at Casablanca Durban

Dr.Mohammed Mukthar Tilib Al-Noah with Mr. Saud  the Ambassador addressing interfaith gathering at Coastlands Gateway Durban.

           Azaan Call for Prayer at the Conference of Iirosa held at Coastlands Gateway. 

Dr Suleman from Egypt.

The weekend in pictures

Corruption and poor service delivery seems to be the order of the day !!

So whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend in the small sleepy town of Newcastle with family and friends, I left the town quite disturbed after the residents related a few unfortunate incidents to me. For a start, the crime in the Newcastle region has escalated with almost 30 burglaries recorded over a two month period. Many of the residents firmly believe that the police are directly involved in many of these crimes. With regards to medical care, it was brought to my attention that the Newcastle provincial hospital has been turned into a mother infant care facility only thereby providing no other medical facilities. In a recent incident that occurred in the town, a young man was stabbed during an altercation with a few men.He was found bleeding profusely. He made it to the provincial hospital only to be turned away by medical staff and security present at the hospital. He had to drive a further 20 km to Madadeni hospital and on arriving at the hospital he died due to the excessive loss of blood. No one is prepared to take the blame. The residents have signed partitions and handed it to the local government officials but thus far nothing has been done about the current situation. The mayor of Newcastle has not acknowledged the grievances of the local residents. He is the same mayor that has laid a charge against a traffic official who mistook him for being a member of the Gupta family. Many residents believe that this was merely a publicity stunt on his part and questioned the fact that why hasn't serious issues like the lack of proper government medical facilities and high crime rates within the area not been addressed with such vigour and priority. Perhaps the mayor is simply on the graveytrain like the rest of this country's government officials. The situation proves yet again that the ruling ANC government has failed the citizens of this country when it comes to service delivery. This is bound to happen when lawlessness and corruption seems to be the order of the day....