HAJJ 2025: DETAILS OF MEETING BETWEEN SOUTH AFRICAN HAJJ AND UMRAH AND SAUDI ARABIA MINISTRY OF HAJJ

The South African Hajj & Umrah Council (SAHUC) has revealed the details of its meeting with Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah over preparations for 2025 Hajj. The meeting was held online on Monday, 7 October 2024.

See details below

As Salaamu Alaikum, respected brothers and sisters,

PRESS RELEASE: Important update to South African Muslims following SAHUC meeting with Saudi authorities

The board of the South African Hajj & Umrah Council (SAHUC) and the Consul General from the South African mission in Jeddah attended an online preparatory meeting for Hajj 1446AH/2025 with the Ministry of Hajj & Umrah on Monday, 7 October 2024.

Below are a number of important points we have been asked to relay to South African pilgrims and travel operators.

1. The Hajj quota for South Africa will remain at 2500.

• Travel operators must have a minimum of 500 pilgrims registered to them. We requested the Ministry to re-consider the quota of a minimum of 500 pilgrims per accredited travel operator, but were informed that this is a new ruling, and all countries are subject to these new quotas and countries with larger overall quotas must have a minimum of 2000 pilgrims per operator.

• The Saudi Ministry of Health has published all the minimum requirements for pilgrims that will be attending Hajj

1446AH/2025. The ministry emphasized that pilgrims must comply with these requirements and stressed the need for compliance with the vaccine requirements.

• South Africans intent on Hajj in this forthcoming season must have a valid Hajj visa issued by the Saudi Arabian Min- istry of Hajj and Umrah through the quota allocated to South Africa – which is 2500 for Hajj 1446H/2025. Any person found without a valid Hajj visa will receive a minimum of six-month jail sentence or a fine of SAR50,000. Further-

more, the person / company that facilitates Hajj via a process other than the official SAHUC route will also be held liable for the offense by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

• Pilgrims who obtain Mujamala (Courtesy) visa will be permitted in the Kingdom for Hajj and will have to stay in the allocated Mujamala camps during the five days of Hajj and will not be allowed within the camps allocated for South African pilgrims through the SAHUC accreditation process.

• Key timelines that Pilgrims, travel operators and Hajj missions need to adhere to are shown below. SAHUC has pub- lished these dates previously.

• SAHUC raised the challenges experienced by our pilgrims in Camp A during Hajj 1445/2024. Officials from the Minis- try indicated that their investigations are ongoing and will revert once their processes are concluded.

• All payments from accredited pilgrims for hajj must be made to the accredited travel operator who will then transfer the funds into SAHUC’s Saudi bank facility for the final transfer into the Ministry of Hajj & Umrah E-hajj account for payments to hotels, transportation, five days of Hajj. No payments or deposits are to be done outside of the E-Haj system and process.

1. Accommodation and catering service contracts will be facilitated through service providers (Muassasah). While local travel operators can source hotel pricing directly, contracts will still have to be signed between the Muassasah and hotels and catering companies and not between local operators and individual hotels.

1. The selection of camps in Mina commences from 23 October 2024 and will be made available on a first come basis with payments required to secure the allocated camps for South African pilgrims. The risk for late payments would mean that pilgrims could be housed in Muzdallifah (zone 5).

1. SAHUC as the official Hajj mission can decide to enter into a contract for one year or three years with the Muassasah for the CAMP allocation in MINA. On the three-year plan, the Muassasah can renovate your camp site as per our needs and requirements. However, these renovations will be at an additional cost.

1. Travel operators must start nominating airlines for scheduled flights.

1. The arrival of pilgrims will be through the Prince Mohammed International Airport in Madinah and King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah from the 1st of Dhul Qa’dah 1446AH/2025.

1. Departures after Hajj can commence on the 15 Dhul Hijjah 1446AH/2025. Any departure from Madinah must be done with a compulsory booking of one night of accommodation. Pilgrims may also depart through the Taif Interna- tional Airport after Hajj provided it is a scheduled flight and the Ministry must be informed in advance of this.

1. Travel operators cannot conclude catering contracts in Makkah, Madinah and Aziziah outside the official system facil- itated through the Muassasah.

1. It is necessary to contract and carry out the rituals of sacrifice through regular slaughterhouses and this must be dis- closed via the E-Hajj. (Ministry system)

1. It has been stressed that pilgrims should not carry excess luggage into the Grand Mosque to avoid overcrowding around the entrances, which affects the cleaning process and crowd management.

1. Pilgrims are forbidden from distributing books and publications that violate Saudi law. Prior clearance must be ob- tained to distribute written material in the Holy Cities.

• It is similarly not allowed for any preachers, sheikhs or religious figures to host any unauthorized religious lectures, whether they are citizens or of other nationalities. In order to host religious lectures and services permission must be sought through the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah well ahead of the season.

• The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah E-Hajj system is expected to open later in October In Shaa Allah.

• Travel operators must ensure that a clear high-resolution photo of pilgrims is uploaded into the E-Hajj portal, so that it appears appropriately on the Nusuk ID.

• Tannazul: payment of transport between cities is mandatory for visa issuance. Pilgrims opting to move between cit- ies by train can buy a ticket separately. Any road sector not used between cities can be refunded by the request of the operator in the E-Haj system after Hajj. (Refund will only be applicable for travel by train between cities)

• Operators must ensure to synchronise arrivals and hotel bookings prior to arrival of the pilgrims in the KSA (Tafweej) no later than 72 hours ahead of arrival.

• Manifesting of pilgrims is essential after Hajj, pilgrims must not leave accommodation without manifest – Furada transport (Private taxi’s) is not recommended as pilgrims are not correctly manifested when using this method.

• Interactive awareness guides offer four interactive guidance paths that contribute to learning about Umrah, Hajj,

Mecca, and Medina, within an educational context that takes into account priorities and focuses on needs. Visit the website: learn.haj.gov.sa for additional information and obtain your certificate of completion.

• Pilgrims may call the care number “1966” in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to lodge any official complaints during the Hajj season.

Released By,

The Board of SAHUC