A Muslim major in the South African army has accused the military of Islamophobia for not allowing her to wear a headscarf at work.
Fatima Isaacs, who has served in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for 10 years as a forensics expert, is facing charges for “failing to obey a lawful instruction” for refusing to remove the headscarf when ordered to do so by a superior.
She says she has always worn her headscarf invisibly under her beret and that it has never interfered with or covered up her military insignia.
She is expected to appear before a closed military court on Wednesday. It will be her third appearance, news site eNCA reports.
Maj Isaacs plans to take the matter to the Constitutional Court if she does not get a favourable result at the military court, according to eNCA.
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Last month, an agreement between the SANDF, the Muslim Judicial Council of SA (MJC) and Maj Isaacs’ legal team decided that the army would drop the case and allow serving Muslim women to wear an under scarf, news site IOL reports.
But on Sunday, Maj Isaacs’ spokesperson, Nazeema Mohammed, said they were still waiting for public confirmation of that deal.
Army spokesperson Mafi Mgobozi said: “The only thing I can say is that the case will continue on Wednesday.”
