Cape Town Shia community ‘tense’ after KZN mosque attack

Cape Town’s Muslim Shia community is “tense”, says Moulana Syed Aftab Haider, after a deadly attack on a Shia mosque in Verulam last week. They are trying to raise money for extra security. 

Cape Town’s Muslim Shia community is “tense”, says Moulana Syed Aftab Haider, after a deadly attack on a Shia mosque in Verulam last week. They are trying to raise money for extra security. 

Haider is a moulana at the relatively new Shia mosque in Ottery, Cape Town called the Ahlul Bait Islamic Centre, which was opened in December.

The Imam Hussain Mosque in Old Main Road in Ottawa, Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal was targeted on Thursday by three men, who attacked worshippers before they set it alight.

One person died after his throat was slit while two others, including the mosque’s imam, were stabbed.

On Sunday, an apparent explosive device was also discovered inside the mosque underneath the moulana’s chair.

“It is creating panic in the community,” Haider told News24.

“We are trying to keep as calm as possible but the situation is very tense, all our mosques, centers, and institutions are on alert,” he added.