Non-profit organisations have teamed up to donate over 60 tons of meat to the less fortunate people across the province.
The Eid al Adha/Qurbani programme was launched on Tuesday as Turkiye’s Diyanet Vafki and Awqaf SA prepare to hand over the donation, starting in the Hillview community.
The vleis will be distributed throughout the province in more than 70 communities.
On Tuesday Hillview residents flocked around the truck which carried the parcels.
Awqaf SA CEO Mickaeel Collier says: “The Eid celebration that we performed over the past weekend is in honour and to follow in the footsteps of Prophet Abraham and the other prophets who followed him when he undertook the pilgrimage to the city of Mecca.”
Muslims celebrate Eid al Adha at the end of the annual hajj by sacrificing livestock such as sheep, goats and cattle, which is given to the poor.
“This year once again, we partnered with the Turkish religious authority called the Diyanet foundation,” says Collier.
“They have donated money towards South Africa; we had 162 cattle just for Cape Town.
“And all of this meat amounts to 60-odd tons that will be distributed in three kilogram packets to the most vulnerable in our community.”
He says the meat will feed over 20 000 families.
“Some of the people we are going to don’t get to eat meat the whole year and they wait for this little bit of meat with extreme joy.”
Turkish Consulate General Sinan Yesildag says the donations came from Turkish citizens.
“This is not from the government but it is from the people in Turkiye who have seen the struggles of the African people,” he says.
“We partnered with other organisations and we have these celebrations throughout the year and in different provinces.
“There are other crews in Mozambique, Namibia and Angola doing the same thing. And this is not just about the Muslim people, the meat and food we distribute are inclusive of other cultures.”
Hillview resident Zainab Salie told the Daily Voice that she was grateful for the donation especially since mense are sukkeling.