Alameen Templeton
A bunch of people calling themselves the “Friends of Sunninghill” messed up their bid to prevent a masjid from being built in their upmarket Joburg neighbourhood and now want to blame the Muslims for their own legalistic incompetence.
So, construction of the masjid is proceeding right in the middle of their leafy suburb; it’s like the barbarians have stormed the citadel, or as “The Friends” called it, “the soft inner core” of the neighbourhood.
Legal thumping
“The Friends” are now licking their wounds and reconsidering their options after being given a legal thumping in the Joburg High Court that threw out their ill-considered, last-gasp attempt to shut down the building work.
They had approached the court for an urgent interdict after noticing building work commencing in November.
“The Friends” had succeeded in September 2021 in blocking the Muslims’ initial rezoning application before the Joburg Municipal Tribunal, but some of them didn’t notice when the Muslims lodged an appeal, even though notice of the appeal was published according to court rules in the Government Gazette.
The Sunninghill Islamic Jamaat Trust had been trying since 2018 to get a new, permanent masjid after a nearby shopping centre cancelled its lease for their salaah facility there.
So, they were overjoyed when their appeal to the MMC for Development Planning succeeded and they were given permission in September 2022 to start construction on one of the properties.
It took some time to get everything lined up, but construction began late in 2024 and it was only then that some of “The Friends” found out the Muslims had won an appeal two years previously.
‘Secular neighbourhood’
They were furious, they were outraged; the Muslims had obviously tricked them, they decided, even though several of their other friends had done the legal basics by reading the Government Gazette, noticing the appeal process, and participating unsuccessfully in it.
Sunninghill was a secular neighbourhood, “The Friends” argued in their heads of argument. But a Google map search shows a virtual archipelago of churches dotting Sunninghill.
These include Christ Embassy Sunninghill, Serbian Orthodox Church, Sandton Assemblies Of God, Christ Embassy Sunninghill Church, St Stephens Anglican Church, City Life Church, Hope Ridge Church, Sandton Seventh-day Adventist Church, Every Nation Sunninghill, Sandton Church, Collective Church, Maronite Catholic Church – Our Lady Of Cedars, St Michael’s & All Angels Church, The New Church Buccleuch, Bryanston Bible Church, Oasis Revival Ministry – Joburg, House of Destiny Family Church, Upper Room Church, Siloam Word Of Truth – Sandton, and Our Lady of Lourdes Rivonia Catholic Church.
“The Friends” even went to other masaajid and took photos of cars parked on pavements for Jumuah Salaah to bolster their argument that traffic would disrupt the neighbourhood. The SIJT had to tell the court there’s a big difference between traffic for Fajr and that of Jumuah.
Schools have an even bigger impact on local traffic and Sunninghill has no shortage of schools in its environs that have snarled up traffic for years to no objection from “The Friends”.
A Google Maps search showed the following schools in or near Sunninghill – Centennial Schools, St Peter’s College, Johannesburg, Sunninghill Christian Academy, Lifestyle Montessori School, Junior Colleges Sunninghill, Curro Rivonia High School, Nova Pioneer Paulshof, St Peter’s Prep Schools, Rivonia Primary School, Christian Academy kindergarten, bluegum hill pre-primary, Posh Kidz Academy, Sunninghill Pre-school and Creche, Reddam House Waterfall Estate, Waterval Islamic Institute, King David Primary School – Sandton, Amedeo College Sandton, Redhill School, Curro Rivonia Preschool, Sandown High School, Crawford International – Sandton, Waterval Islamic Institute, Curro Rivonia Preschool, Pinnacle College Waterfall, Royal Academy of Creative Arts, Wendywood Primary School, and Sunninghill Toddlers / Kleuters.
“The Friends” have never complained about school traffic.
Not in the dark, really
They complained in their application that the SIJT and the council had not informed them of the review, even though publication in the gazette is deemed sufficient notification. The SIJT pointed out in their arguments “The Friends” has not explained on what legal basis they believed the council and the opposing party was supposed to keep them in the loop.
“However, to expect that the municipality and the respondents must notify the applicants of the outcome outside of the decision being published in the provincial gazette, and the prevailing statutory framework, is ill-conceived,” the SIJT argued in its heads of argument.
It noted that Sunninghill Community Rate Payers Association chairman Linda Gildenhuys had queried the progress of the rezoning application when demolition work started on site.
“There is no reasonable explanation for why the urgent was not lodged then or in November as opposed to 17 December 2024, nearly 2 months after the City of Johannesburg had replied to the Chairman of the Sunninghill Community Rate Payers Association, Linda Gildenhuys. This matter is self-created urgency,” the SIJT argued.
So, they made an unwise legal decision – to launch an interdict on a basis of urgency against a process that had been given the green light two years previously. The decision was also gazetted on March 29 2023 when it came into effect, which should have given “The Friends” between one and two years to call for a review of the MMC’s decision.
Of course, the court threw out their application, ruling “The Friends” had failed to establish grounds for urgency. Now, if they want to succeed, they’ll have to find another route to review the MMC’s decision under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA)
Financial loss
The SIJT pointed out to the court that “The Friends” were also too late with their PAJA route, because the Act stipulates a review must be launched within 180 days after the decision is made.
Incredibly, “The Friends” even argued the masjid should not be constructed because the SIJT could make a financial loss from the project.
The SIJT explained: “Although the respondents may face financial losses if they construct the Mosque and the review court were to set aside the decision and the municipality demands demolition, this is a loss to be
borne by the respondents – not the applicant. It is not appropriate for the applicant to rely on this issue as the reason why the applicant would not obtain substantial redress.”
“Alhamdulillah, I think the Almighty is great and full of mercy. We dodged a bullet by managing to avoid the interim interdict because what happens is these organisations mushroom up suddenly at the last minute and they secure interdicts to stop the masjid from coming up.
“And, then, what happens is a huge court case for a number of years. It is really intended to stop the masaajid from coming up,” Advocate Abu Bakr Omar, son of Advocate Zehir Omar (SC), told Markaz Sahaba’s Moulana Zahid Khan.
I wasn’t happy with the order, because the order is for each party to pay their own costs and, generally in law, the order for costs follows the successful party. But, for some reason or another, he saw no reason to give a costs order (against “The Friends”). It’s complete double standards,” Attorney Yousha Tayob, who prepared the case, said.
He expects “The Friends” will probably proceed with their application to review the MMC’s decision through the normal court process, which will take a lot longer and will probably only get under way long after the masjid is built.
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