The latest Islamophobic and gendered attack at a Canadian public library should be a warning for South Africa.

South Africans need to recognise the growing trend and risk of Islamophobic hate, fuelled largely by external events, by politics and by hateful prejudice. The first requirement of addressing a problem is recognising that it exists.

The attached report concerns yet another violent Islamophobic attack in Canada — a country with a diversity comparable to our own — and sits alongside a growing number of incidents across North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. During Ramadaan, media reported similar hate-inspired violent attacks in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and India, against the backdrop of the continued killing of civilians, including women and children, in Gaza.

What we are calling for

SAMNET calls on civil society to join in developing a programme of education and awareness about Islamophobia and related hate crimes — through community events and activities, workplace discussions and media engagement — to counter the narratives being spread by extremists, including political leadership here and abroad, and particularly those using dog whistles and social media to divide and agitate peaceful communities and colleagues.

Against a backdrop of racism, intolerance, marginalisation and division, South Africa found a path to bring a very diverse country together — most of all in times of difficulty, natural disaster, violence or political instability. We must ensure that this unity is not undone by those who would isolate and separate us, and who import division from elsewhere into our families, our communities and our country.

We call on government to recognise Islamophobia as a growing hate crime, and to educate and train our police and the justice cluster to enforce protection and prosecution on the same footing as other hate crimes such as racism and xenophobia.

A hate crimes register for South Africa

As members of the Hate Crime Working Group, SAMNET continues to work on the development of a hate crimes register — along the lines of Tell MAMA in the United Kingdom, CAIR in the United States and the NCCM in Canada — together with community support, so that the scope and depth of Islamophobic and other hate crimes can be reported, recorded and collated, and stronger action taken.

We call on victims of hate crimes to report them to the police for investigation, and to SAMNET for monitoring and measurement.

SAMNET extends its support and solidarity to the victim of the Ajax attack, to the Muslim community of Ajax and of Canada, to the people of Canada, and to every other community around the world facing Islamophobia and rising hate and violent extremism.

We look forward to engaging with all who stand with us in this work.

Dr Faisal Suliman
Chairperson
South African Muslim Network (SAMNET)

Sources

• National Council of Canadian Muslims on the Ajax Public Library attack.
• AFIC calls for investigation into the targeted shooting of Muslim youth in Queensland, March 2025.
• Teenager charged after rock smashes mosque window while worshippers inside — Tell MAMA, 17 March 2025.
• Tell MAMA facing closure after funding pulled — The Guardian, 8 March 2025. Anti-Muslim hate incidents in Britain had reached a record high.

Contact SAMNET on info@samnet.co.za.

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Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of fighting hate and Islamophobia in South Africa and across the world.