Bismillah Hir Rahma Nir Rahim

Mr Yusuf Abdullah Haroon, Mr MC, sponsors of the International Convention, fellow Memons from around the world.

I will begin by outlining the scope and extent of our activities in South Africa The Memon Population of South Africa is 25000. Majority of them reside in Pietersburg, Pretoria and Pietermaritzburg, all names stating with the letter "P"' It is coincidental the words "Paisa" and "Pakistan" also start with the letter "P".

Memon Association of South Africa
The Memon Association of South Africa was Founded 1965, to provide financial assistance to needy Memon and Muslim students for further studies.

Name Change: The name Memon Association of the Transvaal (a Province of South Africa) was carried with honor for 35 years. The name has changed following the winds of political change that swept through South Africa to the benefit of all. Our members and representatives come from 5 of the 9 Provinces of the New South Africa, it was most appropriate to change our name to Memon Association of South Africa.

Review of activities 1965-2000
During the past 35 years seven hundred and fifty seven students received R 7,903,815.00 from our association.

Sixty-six students are currently studying. Male/ female ratio in 1965 was 4:1. Male/female ratio in year 2000 is 1:1. In keeping with worldwide trends we notice that more of our females are seeking financial independence by studying further, acquiring graduate diplomas and degrees and contributing to the family income. Twelve to fifteen students graduate annually with our assistance.

Collection: In 1965 R 400.00 was collected. In the year 2000, R 800 000.00 was collected. If nothing less, this is a refection of the confidence and approval we enjoy in the memon community in South Africa. All our funds are collected from Memon donors. Despite difficult economic times our call for assistance never goes unheeded. I must mention here that the bulk of our donations come from middle class memon families.

During the past 35 years 347 students have qualified. There are 40 lawyers, 33 doctors, 15 pharmacists, 2 journalists, 1 actuary, 22 engineers, 42 students obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree and 20 a Bachelor of Science degree.

More information of the Memon Association of South Africa can be obtained in our 35th Anniversary brochure and on our web page www.memonsa.com

Southern African Memon Foundation
Established on the 18th April 1984 with a capital base of R 200,000.00 following contribution of approximately R I000.00 per Memon Family.

Total disbursements to date are R 338,990.00. The flagship of the Southern African Memon Foundation is the Soshanguve School completed in the year 2000, a joint project with Safmarine and the Gauteng Education Department. The Education Department will contribute towards maintenance of the school, and salaries for teachers and other staff. It is a worthy project and all members and executives of the Southern African Memon Foundation are proud of this development. Prior to construction of the school the indigenous children were educated in discarded buses on the site in this informal settlement.

<Top><Back>

Natal Memon Jamat
Natal is the province where the first Indians landed in South Africa 1870. Seventy percent of the total Indian population of South Africa resides in Natal. The first Indian merchant was Aboobaker Jhavery, a memon, who landed in Durban in 1870, shortly after the arrival of the indentured laborers. Abdoola Adam Jhavery and Abdool Karim Jhavery came shortly thereafter anal established the firm Dada Abdoola and Co. They were responsible for bringing M K Gandhi to South Africa. Gandhi's Satyagaha campaign started in South Africa when he was exposed to the injustice suffered by the local Indian Population. The rest is history and is described in detail in the book "the Memons" by Mihir Bose. The Natal Memon Jamat is the brainchild of late Mr. Mohammed Habib A. K. Hoosein. It was founded in 1967. Mr A V Mohamed is the president. They are also involved in welfare work end education.

Natal Memon Jamat members are very, excited about their new project, which is a community center similar to the one in Balham, UK. The estimated cost of this is 7 million rands. The building will be completed in 2002 and will comprise a multi purpose hall, Jamat Khana for men and ladies, library, boardroom and 12 classrooms for madressas and adult education. We wish them success in this major undertaking and look forward to its completion next year.

World Memon Foundation
It was founded in the year 1978 with late Mohamed Ally Rangoonwala the driving force for 20 years. The South African Memon Community has a close relationship to this world body as at one stage 4 out of the 15 trustees were from South Africa Presently 2 out of the 7 trustees are from South Africa. Mr Joosubha Ghoor and Mr Omar Carrim Noor. One of the major contributions of the World Memon Foundation to South Africa is the construction of the Sunrise School for the physically disabled. The World Memon Foundation contributed 1 million rand (50% of the total cost, towards this project. The other major contributor was a Government body. It is fitting that the school is erected at the entrance of Laudium (Pretoria) where the largest concentrations of Memons in South Africa reside.

Vision for the Future
"As impoverished people flee unproductive rural areas, many cities will double in population by 2015, but resources will be inadequate to provide the needed expansion of water systems, sewers and health facilities. Cities will be sources of crime and instability as ethnic and religious differences exacerbate the competition for ever-scarcer jobs and resources. The number of malnourished people will increase by 20 percent..." Is this the beginning of a new novel? Not it is the future according to the US central intelligence agency in its study " Global trends 2015", and provides a good backdrop for, our "Vision for the Future".

Coming from an Association that is involved over the past 35 years in social and welfare activities (primarily education) I will outline some of the information we have collected and what are our plans for the future. Much of what I have to say will have relevance to Memon Social and Welfare Associations throughout the world although the specifics apply to the South African situation.

Determine the welfare load or burden of the Memon community. We do not know the depth and extent of poverty in the Memon community in South Africa or the rest of the world Analyzing our welfare grants over the past 35 years we have come to the conclusion that the person who is most vocal, most visible or the one with the most contacts is the person who gets our grants. Similarly who gets our Zakaat money in Ramadan? It is the person who goes from door to door during Ramadan requesting aid. I do not say he or she does not deserve our help. What we have come to realize is that there may be others who may be as deserving, if not more, but who have not the desire nor the inclination to go out and seek assistance and are deprived of our help. So what do we do about it? Compile a list of Memons in your area and determine in a proactive way the needs of the community. Not an easy task - but not impossible either. The World Memon population is approximately one million, 500,000.00 in India, 400 000 in Pakistan and a 100,000.00 distributed throughout the world. The logistical problems are not insurmountable. As a starting point even if we can document 50% of our needy families we have achieved something. We can then prioritize our resources in a meaningful way and have a medium to long-term focus i.e. 5-10 years to evaluate our progress. My feeling is that as 80% of memons live in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, most of our efforts should be directed there.

Education
We use education in a very broad sense here; that is equipping our children to allow them to support themselves and their families as they grow up. Education is very dear to our hearts and we are constantly examining ways and means to "courage our children, and their parents to continue studying.

I am sure all of you are familiar with the saying `Buy a man fish and you have fed him for a day, teach him to fish and you have fed him for life" - in the modern world we have to add the following, "provided there is fish in the ocean" otherwise you will have to teach him another trade to support himself. Over the years we have come to realize that education is a moving "target". What is relevant today may be meaningless tomorrow. Do you remember the days when every Memon parent wanted a lawyer or doctor in his family? This has changed; today we need engineers, bankers, accountants, actuaries and information technologists.

Primary and Secondary Education
Although Secondary school education is taken for granted in the Western world, in the developing countries many parents are unable to educate their children to this level. It has been shown that Secondary school education has a significant impact on a person's income and employment and also on a community's long-term economic growth. The "Educational Foundation" of South Africa in its annual report last year stated; workers with no education earned less than R 12,000.00 p.a. not sufficient for survival. Workers with a grade 9 school education earned R 20,000.00 p.a and workers who had a matriculation certificate earned more than R 51,000.00 p. a. There is a five-fold increase in your earning capacity by obtaining a matric or grade 12 certificate.

It should be our aim to educate every Memon child to at least Matric or grade 12 level. Children should not have to leave school to augment the family income. Welfare agencies should support these families until the children leave school. This should be the minimal educational objective for all our children, male and female.

<Top><Back>

Tertiary Education
Workers with diplomas or Bachelor degree earn more than R 100,000.00 p.a in S.A. This has been the core activity of the Memon Association of South Africa during its 35 years of existence. In most cases the addition of one professional to a poor family has transformed the status of that family from poor to middle class. Furthermore, it acts as a catalyst to stimulate other members of the family to work hard, acquire knowledge and improve their lot.

Previously the majority of our students went for Medicine, Law and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree. Today the need of the job market has changed The Human Science Research Council of South Africa published a report in 1998 emphasizing the changes in professional employment. I am sure most of what I have to say will have some relevance internationally. From 1998 to 2003, 92 thousand new professional positions will be created in South Africa This is excluding self employed individuals and those working for small private companies. Where will this growth be? Most of it will be in Information technology, financial services and engineering

1. Information technology. There will be a 40 % growth in positions for software system engineers, networking engineers and Internet engineers.
2. Financial services. There will be a 30% growth in positions for Chartered accounts, Actuarial and Mathematical scientists.
3. There will be a 20-30% increase in positions for engineers especially industrial and electrical engineers.

Last years Cisco Systems released a report. In 1999 there was a 33% shortfall in Internet networking skills in South Africa This will increase to 62% by 2003. Microsoft released a report that in 10 years the global digital economy will have over 1 billion Internet users. Skilled professionals will be required to service this market. India and Pakistan are poised to take full advantage of this tremendous growth. We need to develop links with these areas, identify our shortcomings, learn from them and develop similar technical institutions.

To summarize; human intellectual capital determines a nation's long-term economic growth school and college enrolment rate explains differences in national growth rates. However, educational quality has a greater impact on economic growth than enrolment rates alone. A sound education in physical science and mathematics correlates best with technical advancement in any country or community.

Commerce and Industry
Without a successful business and professional community our social, educational, religious and philanthropic organizations cannot survive let alone grow and expand.

Throughout the ages our successful businessman have led from the front, take for e.g. the Adamjees, Davvoods, Allanas, Rangoonwalas, Pardesis and now Abdul Razzak Yakub from Dubai. Please forgive me if I have not mentioned a prominent and/or successful family in the Memon community elsewhere in the world What we need to do is to encourage and support our successful business and professional men and women and add to their numbers. How do we do that?

1. Compile a directory of all Memon businessman, industrialists and professionals. Allow them to network with each other, learn from each other and grow with each other. We can advise you of business opportunities in Southern Africa and you advise us of business opportunities elsewhere in the world Allow synergies to develop so that our industrialist can become players not only at regional levels but also national and international levels. 2. Identify those sectors in the economy where we are lacking. Establish scholarships or grants to encourage our children to develop expertise in these areas and so overcome our shortcomings. What come to mind are banking, insurance, television and media Islamic constraints should and must be considered and accommodated
3. Lastly we come to the old question, what is better, business or education? I say both. Let us develop an educated business class if we want to have an impact on the world economic stage.

Coordinating Our Activities
Do not reinvent the wheel. We have agencies and associations in every province and country, e.g. Memon Association of South Africa, World Memon Foundation, All India Memon Jamat Federation, All Pakistan Memon Federation, etc. Build and expand these structures, coordinate our activities to avoid duplication, identify weaknesses and neglected areas, build on your strengths and channel your resources to areas where the need is greatest.

My vision is of a global Memon community linked by the various organizations and associations we represent here, learning from each other, caring for each other, working for and with each other and also having fun together

Why Memon and not Muslim?
Everyone involved with Memon Social work must have heard this question at some point. We feel there is a need for Memon Associations;

Firstly, charity begins at home! Duty towards your family and extended family comes first. We are one big Memon family of I million individuals, with our roots in the Indian subcontinent, minorities in every country where we live, if we are unable to help ourselves, who will help us? The business-world has taught us that the most successful organizations are those that have a narrow focus run by dedicated workers having the same objective. It is for this reason that we have succeeded and thrived for 35 years. Lastly, besides supporting us all our donors who are Memons support other Muslim and also non-Muslim associations.

In conclusion congratulations to the sponsors of the Memon International Convention for taking this excellent initiative. Sometimes an idea hatched in the congress center corridors and stairwells may have far reaching repercussions. Thank you Haji Abdul Razzak Yakub, Abdul Latif Jamal, Aboobaker Cassim, Haji Adam Noor and Mr. Abdurrazzak Sorathia (Tastee).

<Top><Back>