President wishes Muslim and Jewish communities a blessed New Year

President Cyril Ramaphosa wishes the Muslim and Jewish communities a blessed Islamic New Year and I’shana tovah respectively on the occasion of the two religious communities’ observance of the beginning of a new year.
 
South African Muslims are celebrating the beginning of the month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year, today, Tuesday 11 September 2018, while the Jewish community is observing Rosh Hashanah.
 
For the Muslim community, the year 2018 on the Gregorian calendar corresponds to the Islamic year 1440, while the Jewish community is celebrating the advent of the year 5779 on the Hebrew calendar.
 
President Ramaphosa will tomorrow, Wednesday 12 September 2018, address the Jewish community at the Gardens Synagogue in Cape Town following the culmination this evening of the Rosh Hashanah celebrations.
 
President Ramaphosa said: “The advent of the Islamic and Jewish New Years on the same day is a rare and special occasion for all of us as South Africans.
 
“These celebrations are an occasion on which Muslims and members of the Jewish communities renew their commitment to their faith, culture and the sound human values that bind these communities together and enrich our South African society as a whole.
 
“This is therefore a moment that enhances our nation’s social and ethical fabric and invites all of us to commit ourselves to work for the betterment of our society.”
 

Media enquiries: Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President, on 072 854 5707
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria