Parkwood is a residential suburb located on the Cape Flats, near areas such as Ottery, Lotus River and Grassy Park in the southern part of Cape Town. The suburb developed largely during the apartheid era as part of the forced removals and spatial planning that relocated many “Coloured” communities to the Cape Flats. Today it is a densely populated working-class community with strong family networks and vibrant local culture. According to census data, the suburb has a population of around 11,800 residents.

The suburb hosts several Islamic institutions and mosques, including:

• Masjidus Sabr

• Masjiedun Nur

These mosques serve as centres for daily prayers, Qur’ān classes, madrassah education, and community welfare programmes, bringing together residents for religious learning and social support.

The Muslim community is also active in broader social initiatives. For example, events held at Masjidus Sabr have included large charitable drives during Islamic months such as Muharram, where volunteers distributed food and gifts to thousands of children in the neighbourhood regardless of faith.

Radio 786 partners with the South African National Zakaah Fund (SANZAF) to bring food and drink to those partaking in the Ramadaan fast.

During Ramadan, Parkwood is known for community iftars (boeka gatherings), including large street iftars that can attract thousands of participants from across the area, reflecting the strong communal spirit that characterises Islam in the suburb.

The closure, now stretching over several consecutive days, has prevented thousands of Palestinian Muslims from attending nightly Ramadaan prayers such as Taraweeh, at one of Islam’s most revered holy sites. Security forces have maintained a heightened presence in and around Jerusalem’s Old City, restricting access to the mosque compound.

Israeli officials falsely claim that the restrictions are necessary due to the volatile security environment and the risk posed by potential attacks.

Palestinian religious leaders and community representatives have criticised the move, describing it as a severe limitation on freedom of worship during a sacred period. They warn that prolonged restrictions could heighten tensions in Israeli-occupied Jerusalem and beyond.

Al-Aqsa Mosque, located in Jerusalem’s Old City, has for decades been governed under an international arrangement preserving its religious status as an exclusively Islamic site.

However since Israeli occupation of Jerusalem since the 1960s, Israelis have been gradually eroding that status through increasing restrictions on Palestinian and Muslim access, while expanding Jewish presence and control, often described as the Judaisation of the area.

Alongside the mosque’s closure, occupation forces have imposed restrictions on merchants, forcing many to shut their businesses.

In the occupied West Bank, Zionist forces also unlawfully closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.

The Ibrahimi Mosque is among the holiest sites in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. It has been administered by Palestinians and used as a mosque for more than 1,400 years.

Last month, Israel announced the de facto annexation of the West Bank, with Hebron being explicitly referenced. Under the new measures, authority over building permits and construction approvals in the city was transferred from the Palestinian Authority to the Israeli occupation military.

The pause, in the 13th minute of the 17:30 GMT kick-off, witnessed a cacophony of jeers and whistles throughout the break which lasted about a minute.

Furthermore, it is understood that a number of fans have emailed the club expressing their anger at the lack of public response from the club.

BBC Sport reported that a response from the club read that the club is aware of the incident and it was “disappointing” that some supporters chose to boo during the pause in play to allow players observing Ramadan to break their fast.

“The club is currently looking into why this happened and what can be done moving forwards to prevent incidents of a similar nature happening again in the future.”

The match – which was lost by Leeds – was full of controversy as the club boss accused City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma of feigning injury to allow Pep Guardiola to call his players to the touchline and issue fresh instructions in the two minutes play was stopped for.

Leeds manager Daniel Farke suggested that the boos could also have been due to confusion about the stoppage that allowed his opponents to regroup and strategize.

“If it was from some people’s point of view being disrespectful then it is not acceptable and we have to learn out of it. In general, football and we as a dressing room, there is no better place for living together with different passports, different religions than the football club and our group”, said Farke.

“I know there is a big solidarity and everyone supports the same group. My gut feeling is supporters did not even know what was happening.”

A similar pause might take place during the second half of Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Norwich City and Leeds are aiming to provide information on it beforehand.

While Bo-Kaap remains the most recognised centre of Muslim culture in Cape Town – complete with mosques, cultural streetscapes, and longstanding social traditions – Bree Street also played a role in the fabric of early Muslim life in the city.

Islamic scholarship and community life once extended into the city centre. Notably, Sayed Abu Bakr Effendi, an influential 19th-century Islamic scholar sent to Cape Town from the Ottoman Empire, lived and taught in areas bordering Bree and Wale streets, fostering Islamic learning and community identities that would span generations.

These early Muslim families had homes, prayer rooms, and schools within the city centre, a reminder that the Cape Muslim community was not confined to one neighbourhood but spread across the urban core before apartheid-era displacement reshaped demographics

Nearby, in the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood, landmarks such as the Auwal Mosque completed in 1794 stand as testaments to the deep roots of Islam in the region. The Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum preserves everyday Muslim heritage, displaying historical homes, artifacts, and stories that reflect life in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Tana Baru Muslim Cemetery, historic kramats, and several mosques throughout Bo-Kaap further speak to centuries-old traditions of Islamic faith, community organisation, and resistance to exclusion.

On 1 March 2026, the second annual Boeka on Bree took place on Bree Street between Shortmarket and Castle streets. This event brought together Capetonians of different backgrounds to break their fast together, share food, and participate in prayer and a historical talk.

Originally organised as a way to reclaim space where Muslim families once lived and practised their faith regularly, the gathering attracted people keen to connect with Cape Town’s shared heritage. The event included:

* Serving soup, dates and water at sunset.

* A historical talk about the once-vibrant Muslim presence in the city centre.

* A short communal prayer in keeping with Ramadaan tradition.

Organisers – including the MSA Union, Cape Family Research Forum, AwqafSA,Salt River Heritage Society, and Young Urbanists emphasised thatBoeka on Bree aims to honour the history of the community that lived there before forced removals under apartheid.

Radio 786 broadcasted the Boeka on Bree Live.

The revival of this tradition helps broaden public understanding of how worship, culture and family life were once woven into Cape Town’s central streets, not just in Bo-Kaap but also in areas like Bree Street.

He told lawmakers during his budget vote in the National Assembly that firing the minister would be unfair.

Mchunu stands accused of colluding with business people, including a murder accused, to disband the Political Killings Task Team based in KwaZulu-Natal.

He is alleged to having links to a criminal syndicate. Mchunu has denied the allegations.

A commission of inquiry has since been set up to probe the damning allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. 

At least six rockets bombed the base, which is the largest in the Middle East. Sirens are ringing in Bahrain, and American soldiers across bases in Iraq have entered shelters, following the Iranian missile attack on Udeid base in Qatar.

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps has since released a statement on the launch of Operation Tidings of Victory. Addressing the people of Iran, the IRGC says that its actions on US military bases in Qatar and Iraq are in response to the blatant military aggression by the US against the peaceful nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic.

The IRGC affirmed that the response was in planned with the Supreme National Security Council and the leadership of the Khatam al-Anbiya (PBUH) Central Headquarters. The US Al Udeid base in Qatar is the headquarters of the Air Force Central Command and the largest strategic asset of the American military in the West Asia region.

The IRGC says that Operation Tidings of Victory sends a clear message to the US; that the Islamic Republic of Iran, which relies on the Almighty Creator, will under no circumstances leave unanswered any aggression against its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and national security.

It also affirms that the US aggression on Sunday proved that the evil of the Zionist entity is an extension of the American design. The IRGC also reminded Iranians, and the world that tonight’s operations were acts of national defense.

The American military bases and mobile targets in the region are not a point of strength, but rather a great weakness and the Achilles’ heel of this warmongering regime.

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He says they will play intelligently and avoid random strikes.

Shamkhani explains that like the Zionist Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu, the US President Donald Trump makes international decisions without thinking, and in ways that contradict the interests of the US. 

“Even if they assume the complete destruction of the nuclear sites, the game is not over, because Iran still possesses enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, and political will. Iran’s so-called nuclear threat is being used as a pretext to destabilise and impose regime change in the Middle East,” said Shamkhan. 

Now, Russia’s United Nation’s Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has drawn parallels between the Iraq war and invasion and what is happening today in relation to Iran.

He was addressing the UN Security Council emergency meeting in the wake of the US aggression on Iran.

The Israeli Occupation Army Radio reported that the Zionist leadership does not want a prolong war when Iran launches ballistic missiles at the entity for months, similar to what the Yemenis are doing. Instead, the Israeli entity is hoping for quick war which ends within days.

Attrition warfare is a form of military strategy in which one side attempts to gradually wear down its opponent to the point of collapse.  

Arab news outlet, Al Mayadeen’s analyst for Palestinian and Regional Affairs Dr Nasser Al-Laham believes the calls to stop the war on Iran has ulterior motives.

“Information indicates that the US and Zionist-Israel want to halt the military war in order to begin a security war inside Iran with the assistance of Mossad agents on the ground,” said Al-Laham. 

Al-Laham added that the US and Israel are seeking to stoke instability from within and topple the Iranian government. 

Expert in International Political Affairs Radwan Qasim says everyone knows including the Americans that Tehran will not raise the white flag.

It comes as the world is waiting for the Iranian response to the US aggression on its sovereignty and its peaceful nuclear facilities.

Iranian parliamentarians have recommended the closure of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz where 20% of global oil and gas demand flows. It’s the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.

However, the final decision rest with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). Iran can also strike US bases and military assets which are located in several Arab countries in the region.  

Medical Services says they are running out of fuel. It means that they will not be able respond to the pleas for help.

The US backed Israeli genocidal war machine has deliberately sought to obliterate Gaza’s health system, making it harder or near impossible for medical personnel to save lives.

Since October 2023 more than 55,900 Palestinians have been slaughtered in Gaza and some 131,000 others have been injured by the Zionist regime.