A second Muslim burial site has been desecrated in Cape Town in less than two weeks.
Following the vandalism at the Mowbray Muslim Cemetery, workers at the Vredehoek kramat in the Cape Town CBD were shocked to find the shrine of a Muslim saint wrecked and smeared with faeces on Monday morning.
The cloth cover was torn and ripped off while faeces, with fingerprints visible in it, was smeared all over the kramat (shrine).
The vandalism of the resting place of Auliya Sayed Abdul Haq Al Quadri comes just a few hours after a mass thikr was held on Sunday, to celebrate the birthday of Islam’s holiest prophet, Muhammad.
The kramat is located in Deer Park at the foot of Table Mountain.
DESECRATED: Vredehoek kramat at Table Mountain
Mahmoud Limbada, chairperson of the Cape Mazaar Society that looks after several kramats in Cape Town, says members dispatched to the scene were horrified by the desecration.
“They found one side of the wrought iron (railing) around the kabr (grave) had been broken off and faeces had been smeared on one wall.
“There is no caretaker living on-site as the kramat is located in the Table Mountain National Park.”
Limbada expressed concern as the incident follows so closely after the desecration of the Mowbray Muslim Cemetery, where over 70 graves were desecrated and the tombstones arranged to form an inverted cross - a satanic symbol.
However, he says: “I do not believe the two incidents are linked and the matter has been reported to the police.”
Two weeks ago, vandals entered the Mowbray Muslim Cemetery where they ripped headstones out of the ground, and also made cult-like triangles inside a hole.
Pictures: Supplied
Most of the gravestones have been restored, but about 20 remain, waiting to be placed at the correct graves.
Following a tip-off, members of the U-Watch Safety Watch headed up to a spot on Devil’s Peak and found stolen items of the cemetery which inclu-
ded a yellow picket fence, a gravestone, flowers and what appeared to be a burial cloth.
Police are investigating both incidents and no arrests have been yet.