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Cape Times reports that legal representatives for SA National Defence Force (SANDF) officer Major Fatima Isaacs will be taking her headscarf matter to the Equality Court, despite the case having been withdrawn on Wednesday.
Isaacs was charged with “failing to obey an order” from a senior officer last year when she refused to remove her headscarf from under her formal military beret. Isaacs works as a clinical forensic pathologist at 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg, and has been a member of the SANDF for 10 years. The Military Court on Wednesday withdrew charges against Isaacs, ruling that she was allowed to wear her headscarf, subject to certain restrictions. These were that her headscarf must not cover her ears; must be wrapped tightly; must be black in colour; and must be a certain texture. Nazeema Mohamed from the Legal Resources Centre commented: “We want the whole discrimination issue against Muslim women and other members of the SANDF not to happen again, there must be no discrimination. Discrimination is not allowed within the Constitution. We are not celebrating (as) the matter needs to be dealt with in the South African courts and a judge will rule on it.” SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said the decision to withdraw the charges came after lengthy discussions with the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC). He said the talks had been fruitful and they saw “no reason to go on with the court case”.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Yolisa Tswanya at Cape Times
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