Page 144 - Bulletin 17 2013

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We the undersigned washerwomen of Kalk Bay respectfully ask the Council to reconsider
allowing a coal yard to be erected in Belmont Road as we fear our washing which is all done in
the wash-house close by and hangs there to dry will be soiled with the dust from the yard.

Emily September and 17 others.

Magisa Cozyn
… ? ….. Otola Fisher
Malie Cozyn Hadje Lela A ….? …..
Roochea Salie Hadje Lela Emandien
Galina Williams Hadje Fatima Salime
Subata Petersen Sarah Francis
Colara Williams Lena Avontuur
Sabina Salime Mary ….. ?
Lega Fisher Frina Petersen

The petition shows that some of the women have the title Hadji before their names. Hadji is the

honorific title of someone who has been on the hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, a requirement of all
able-bodied Muslims who can afford to. One can imagine the sacrifices, costs and difficulties of

making this arduous trip early in the 1900s. There is an account of a trip to Mecca and Medina in

1878 which gives us an idea of the rigours of the journey. It went from Cape Town via Algoa
Bay, Durban, Quelimane, Zanzibar and Jeddah. There were two changes of ship and the trip took

about 46 days and cost £100. Camels were used for the final leg of the journey

The Mosque

Muslims had been at the Cape since the late 1600s when they were brought to the settlement by

the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as skilled artisans and slaves. Other educated Muslims
were brought here as political prisoners from the Dutch colonies in the East, often with an

entourage of family and servants. An 1841 survey shows that Muslims represented about 25% of
the population of greater Cape Town. Although many came here from the Dutch Indonesian

islands there were many, too, from Arabia and India. The Government census of 1891 noted that
there were 71 Malays living in the Kalk Bay – Muizenberg Municipality and by 1904 this had

doubled to 143.