Muslim South Africans repatriated from Pakistan have complained about a the lack of consideration, after having been served pork at a Joburg quarantine site.

The group of 103, which landed in South Africa on Thursday, have been placed in the quarantine site at Emperors Palace, Peermont Metcourt  and Mondior Hotel, east of Joburg.

Muslims world over are currently observing the Ramadhaan fast. Those observing the fast only eat before sunrise and after sunset. Sajidah Manzoor, who assisted in co-ordinating the group’s return said the facility was requested to supply meals for those fasting at 4.30am, and for those not fasting, mostly children, at about 7.30am.

There have also been complaints of food poisoning. Manzoor said, “The people couldn’t eat their supper on Friday. It was completely off. It was some type of lentil meal. Most people just left it outside their rooms.” She added that seven of the guests became ill as a result of eating the meal.

Manzoor’s husband Saif, who is at the quarantine site, had been in Pakistan when the country’s borders were closed.  She said she had, fortunately, asked her husband to bring noodles and snacks back to South Africa, and that these were distributed among the children.

She said, “When we tried speaking to the hotel management, we got no joy. On Saturday, they received the evening meal, but most of it was unpalatable. Some people started complaining of diarrhoea.”

The groups tolerance finally ran out, when, on Sunday, for the pre-dawn meal, they were served bacon, despite an extensive food-restrictions list having been handed over to authorities. Manzoor said that those who were supposed to get the halaal or vegetable meal got bacon for breakfast. Islam forbids partaking of pork. She said, “One or two of them were unaware of this and ate it. That is totally unacceptable. We need urgent intervention.”

The spokesperson for Peermont Metcourt and Mondior, Julie van Wyk said “The Department of Health has signed off on the off-site food supplier, including an accredited halaal supplier. National Health spokesperson Popo Molefe, meanwhile, referred questions to the Gauteng Department of Health, whose spokesperson Kwara Kekana said they only run four quarantine sites: Eskom, Transnet, Telkom and Nasrec. She said that Emperor’s Palace didn’t fall under them.

Umm Muhammed Umar