Religious certification’s role in consumer choice
About 60% of food products sold in South Africa are halal certified, with some major retailers carrying as much as 80%–90% halal-certified products.
The country’s largest halal certification bodies, including the South African National Halaal Authority, the Muslim Judicial Council and the National Independent Halaal Trust, collect certification fees from thousands of manufacturers and food businesses. While there is no audited public figure for their combined income, it must amount to tens of millions of rand annually.
This is so despite Muslims comprising only 2%–3% of the country’s population, while the overwhelming majority of South Africans identify as Christian.
The existence of halal certification is not, in itself, the issue. Businesses are free to seek certification where there is consumer demand or export markets require it. For many manufacturers, halal certification is a commercial decision that opens access to local and international markets.
The real question is one of transparency and consumer awareness. When a large proportion of everyday products carry religious certification requirements that most consumers did not actively request, South Africans have a right to ask how this became the default standard in so many supply chains.
At what point does commercial convenience quietly reshape what ends up on the shelves of a largely Christian nation, without meaningful public debate or informed consent? Equally, South Africans should be able to have an open conversation about the role religious certification plays in the marketplace without that discussion being dismissed or politicised.
In a diverse democracy no religious community should be privileged or disadvantaged. Transparency, voluntary participation and informed consumer choice should be the guiding principles.
If certification primarily serves commercial and export purposes that should be clearly explained. If certification fees fund the operational activities of certifying organisations, the public is entitled to know how those funds are governed and used.
Daniel Jacobi
South African Friends of Israel
Gambling partnerships risk institutional integrity
Definitive, reliable industry statistics confirm that a series-deciding game attracts more volume and capital from gamblers than any preceding match. This economic reality creates an uncomfortable convergence of financial incentives in modern professional sport (“To bet or not to bet? That is the question”, July 23).
One wonders what the odds would be on an enormous Baltimore payday for the South African Rugby Union’s numerous sports-betting sponsors should the Springboks lose one of their four upcoming local Tests against the All Blacks.
The mere spark of such cynicism is sufficient evidence of the irreparable reputational harm already caused by gambling sponsors. When commercial partnerships invite public scepticism over competitive outcomes, the damage is already done — long before “throwing” becomes anything more than feeding a line-out.
Ike Boss
The Boss Group
Women’s Month must be more than a celebration
As South Africa marks Women’s Month we must ensure that our celebrations are matched by meaningful action and genuine respect.
This is the time to honour the brave women who came before us — those who marched against injustice, fought for equality and made enormous sacrifices so that future generations could enjoy greater rights and opportunities. Their legacy should never be forgotten.
We should also recognise the women who continue to shape our society every day: our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, daughters, wives and colleagues. They carry families, strengthen communities and contribute immensely to our country’s development, often without the recognition they deserve.
The greatest tribute we can pay to women is not flowers or speeches but creating a society in which every woman is treated with dignity, respect and equality. Women’s Month should remind us of our responsibility to end gender-based violence, expand economic opportunities and ensure women are safe and empowered in every sphere of life.
Let us honour the women of yesterday by standing with the women of today and investing in the women of tomorrow. Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo.
Tsepo Mhlongo
Orlando East
Price and competence still matter in tenders
In mid-July the high court in Pretoria set aside the South African National Rail Agency’s (Sanral’s) R9.5bn routine road maintenance panel tender as unconstitutional and unlawful.
The judge specifically noted that when race is made the determining fact in selecting the functionally competent tenderers it should be struck down.
DA MP Chris Hunsinger, the party’s spokesperson on transport, notes that race-based preferencing is still lawful, but other factors have to be taken into account, such as price and competence.
Michael Bagraim, MP
DA employment & labour spokesperson
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