UK’s Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan have visited the Auwal Mosque, in Bo Kaap as part of a ten-day tour of Southern Africa. Built-in 1794, during the British occupation of the Cape of Good Hope, it is the oldest mosque in South Africa.
During the visit, the Duke and Duchess viewed the first known manuscript of the Qu’ran in South Africa before meeting members of different faith groups to learn about the work the mosque does to promote interfaith dialogue in Cape Town.
Prince Harry and Meghan arrive at the Auwal Mosque in Bo Kaap to meet members of different faith groups #RoyalVisitSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/xlkpNM6gli
— Victoria Murphy (@byQueenVic) September 24, 2019
The Bo-Kaap Civic Association’s Mohammed Groenewald said the visit by the British royals is aimed at sharing more information about Islam.
“We will be having an interfaith event inside the mosque and that is just to tell them that Islam here, isn’t borrowed from anywhere else in the world. Islam is part of the fynbos species of the Cape. Islam has grown organically from slavery, from political prisoners that all came here together and the message we want to send to them is that the type of Islamaphobia Europe is experiencing, here we live in peace and harmony and we have a shared culture.”
WATCH | [DAY 2] British Royal tour stream
Earlier, the management of the NGO Waves for Change welcomed the visit of the Royal couple to Monwabisi Beach at Khayelitsha in Cape Town. Surf mentors at Waves for Change provide mental health services to vulnerable young people from neighbouring townships and also train them to swim and surf.
Meghan chats to surf mentors from @WavesforChange before meeting Ndileka Wana & Priscilla Mere who will be preparing food from @TheLunchboxFund. It was one of 4 charities chosen by the Duke & Duchess to benefit from donations to celebrate the birth of Archie! ? ??? pic.twitter.com/0JaLASf8nP
— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) September 24, 2019
Director Tim Conibear says they feel encouraged by the visit of the British Royal couple. Conibear says they have a strong relationship with the British embassy.
“It shines a huge light on the work of the Waves for Change and also the works of other organisations around the world looking to sport to promote mental health among young people. I know that sport improves mental health and with the Duke just coming around, it’s a huge validation of the work; it’s been great.”
One of the surfing mentors, Anelisa Mhloli, says the Royal visit is inspiring.
“It’s very overwhelming and exciting at the same moment. We were very nervous about the visit, but interacting with them and learning, they are not so uptight as we expected was really amazing and getting to hear them and speak to each other was amazing.”
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