In fulfillment of its foundational mission to jointly champion genuine spiritual pluralism alongside the pursuit of unequivocal social justice for all, the Open Mosque is pleased to invite you to celebrate Freedom Day on 28^th April 2018 at 7pm. A special dinner banquet as well as the presence of a highly distinguished speaker at the Open Mosque that day will mark the 24^th anniversary of South Africa’s liberty from apartheid tyranny.

 

Instead of simply reveling in the political rights that South Africans seemingly enjoy at present, the Open Mosque seeks to stimulate much-need public debate surrounding the fundamental failings within our country’s vaunted constitution. Under the solitary exclusive rule of the ANC since the end of white minority domination, there has been a sustained strategy by this former liberation movement to subvert, undermine and override our non-racial constitution. The inherent defects relating to proportional representation voting (that places the party above the people); the lack of effective constituency answerability, the systematic erosion and deliberate defiance of supreme parliamentary sovereignty (by innumerable ANC officials, cabinet ministers and others); and the scandalous legitimisation of endemic governmental corruption, flagrant state capture, meritless affirmative action, reprehensible reverse racism, hideous ethnic tribalism, discriminatory job quotas and widespread institutional nepotism are just some of the more glaring issues at stake. The discredited ANC has neglected these priority concerns while opportunistically threatening to expropriate land without compensation just to appease the racist EFF and curry mass support for next year’s election. But the ANC’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) strategy is nothing but a cynical ploy for their greedy cohorts, crooked cadres and corrupt bureaucrats to engage in outright Black Elitist Enrichment (BEE) that benefits only the few, not the many.

 

For these compelling reasons, the Open Mosque has arranged for Professor Jairam Reddy, a prominent academic to present his own scholarly reflections on constitutional democracy in South Africa since 1994.  He is the former vice-chancellor of the University of Durban-Westville and the ex-Dean of Dentistry at the University of the Western Cape. Aside from holding several other key posts in academia and government, Professor Reddy has also worked for the United Nations in conflict-ridden Afghanistan, Liberia, Jordan and elsewhere in the world. His exceptional breadth of local and global knowledge as well as his practical expertise in administrative leadership and democratic governance makes him the ideal candidate to dissect South Africa’s flawed constitution and devise pragmatic proposals on how to restore and revive a really vibrant, fully accountable parliament and a completely transparent democracy to this beloved land of ours. After nearly a quarter of a century of freedom, the blatant shortcomings in our supposedly non-racial constitution must be tackled head-on if we are to become a truly just and fair ‘Rainbow Nation’ for everyone in this country.

 

Come listen and learn from this remarkable South African – who from very humble beginnings as the son of a Hindu indentured labourer in Natal – has risen to the top in both the domestic sphere and international stage. A complimentary buffet meal prepared by the staff of the Open Mosque will be the perfect accompaniment to this illuminating function and Professor Reddy’s thought-provoking presentation. To finalize the logistics for this gala dinner event, kindly rsvp as soon as possible by email to info@theopenmosque.org.za to reserve your seat.