The new food garden at Nurul Islam Mosque in Heideveld will be used as a place of learning and teaching and to support the mosque’s 10 satellite feeding projects.
This was announced by Anwar Ebrahim, the coordinator of the food garden, at its launch on Saturday July 30.
The South African Institute for Entrepreneurship helped to establish the garden.
Mr Ebrahim said the mosque had been active with feeding scheme projects long before Covid-19, and it was only fitting that it started a vegetable garden, as its produce would be used to support those projects.
“We feed on a daily basis. Our appeal is that the community must take ownership of the garden so that this project can become a success. If we can sustain this garden, we can get bigger ground and run it on a business model,” Mr Ebrahim said.
Speaking at the launch, Sheikh Masood Isaacs encouraged those present to look after the environment, and he added, “The best of mankind are those who are the best to mankind”.
John Goliath, who lives near the mosque, said the garden was a “great initiative”.
“The sad reality is that the lines at the feeding schemes are not getting any shorter. In fact, more people are now in need than ever before. We are part of a feeding scheme, and our group is one of the beneficiaries of the mosque and now also the food garden. On behalf of the community, I’d like to thank the management of the mosque for this much-needed project,” Mr Goliath said.
Ernest Boateng, from the South African Institute for Entrepreneurship, said the organisation was involved with many community projects across the country.
“Our focus is on entrepreneurship across many sectors. We also focus on agriculture in communities and at schools. To date, we have trained more than 6 000 farmers and established more than 8 000 school gardens. We are happy to be involved with the mosque’s food garden. We will provide the training. As it is now, we consider this a pilot stage,” Mr Boateng said.