The gravesite of anti-apartheid hero Imam Abdullah Haron and his mosque in Stegman Road, Claremont, have been declared provincial heritage sites on the 50th anniversary of his death.
Heritage Western Cape (HWC) said the decision was taken on Monday, following an eight-month process, initiated by the Imam Haron Foundation.
The imam was buried at the front of the Mowbray Muslim Cemetery at 10 Browning Road on 29 September 1969, and Al-Jamia Masjid in Stegman Road was his base of operations for 15 years.
Imam Haron Foundation co-ordinator, Cassiem Khan, said: “Present at the declaration was Muhammed Badr Hassen Parker. He was 16 years old at the time and, upon request of his late father, he arranged for Imam Haron to be buried in this easily accessible prime space demarcated for their family. The security police were in the graveyard having dug a grave for Imam Haron in an obscure place.”
“We hope that the mosque and the gravesite will next be considered for national heritage status and placed on the liberation route,” Khan added.
HWC chief executive Dr Mxolisi Dlamuka said the declaration of the gravesite and the Al-Jamia Mosque meant that these sites were now part of the “National Estate of South Africa”.
“They are now recognised as important historical and heritage landmarks. These sites add to the contribution of the Western Cape to the resistance and liberation history of South Africa,” Dlamuka said.