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The Western Cape High Court has granted the Moslem Cemetery Board permission to postpone its Annual General Meeting, but only until March 14, 2027. The ruling gives the Board four and a half months to complete outstanding financial, auditing and compliance requirements before members meet, following years of governance disputes and a court-supervised election process.
By ANWAR OMAR
By agreement between the parties, the High Court has authorised the Moslem Cemetery Board (MCB) to defer its Annual General Meeting (AGM), to a date no later than March 14, 2027. That is 77 days, or eleven weeks, earlier than the May 30, 2027 limit the Board had sought.
The order was granted on Thursday, October 29 by Acting Judge Adams in the Western Cape Division in Cape Town (Case No. 2025-238197), and stamped by the Registrar on Friday, October 30. It records that it was made “having read the papers filed of record, having heard counsel, and by agreement between the parties”. The parties were the Board, Dr Tolgah Bassier and the Independent Panel of Conveners.
What the court ordered
The order has four paragraphs:
- the application was heard as an urgent matter;
- the Board’s non-compliance with the ordinary Rules on form, service and time periods was condoned;
- the Applicant, “through its Board, is authorised to defer the Annual General Meeting required under its Constitution to a date determined by the Board, but not later than March 14, 2027”; and
- each party pays its own costs.
The silences in the order
The Board’s notice of motion asked the court to declare its October 21 resolution to postpone “lawful, valid and binding”. The order, as seen by Muslim Views, contains no such declaration. It only authorises the deferral.
The order sets a ceiling, not a date. The Board can choose the day, and there is no interim milestone. It does not record who proposed the shorter date or on what terms the parties agreed, and Muslim Views has not seen anything beyond the order suggesting the reasons for the deadline of March 14, 2027.
The Board’s affidavit said it would inform members of the court’s order within seven days, through social media, Radio 786 and Voice of the Cape. Counted from October2 9, that falls on Thursday, November 5. The order does not mention the November 20 report to the Registrar that the affidavit refers to.
The deadline missed before the hearing
Clause 17 of the MCB’s 1948 Constitution requires an AGM in October each year, and Clause 18 requires notice to be published at least seven days before the meeting. For a meeting on October 31, the last day for that notice was October 24 at the latest. The Board’s own affidavit said it was “not presently in a position to comply”.
As this newspaper reported, the October deadline was therefore going to be missed whatever the court decided. It passes on Saturday, October 31. The question was how long a delay the court would allow for the AGM to be held. The court allowed a delay of four and a half months from the end of October, not the seven months the Board sought.
Why the Board requested the deferment
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The Board was elected on August 23, 2026 under the court-supervised process that followed the March 24 judgment finding the previous board unlawfully constituted after fifteen years without an AGM. In a founding affidavit sworn by Chairperson Faizal Sayed, it said it had “not yet had sufficient opportunity to properly prepare for an AGM”, and that a premature meeting could see members asked to pass “financial statements that are incomplete or remain contentious”.
The affidavit also conceded that “the Constitution contains no provision permitting the Board to postpone the AGM”. Its answer was that the court should authorise a departure, and the court has now done so.
The more specific reasons reflected in the draft minutes of the Board’s October 21 meeting, annexed to the affidavit. They record that all eleven members attended and that the vote to defer, “subject to the court direction”, was eight to three.
The Treasurer reported that audited statements for 2020 to 2024 are available, but that those for 2025 and 2026 “remained outstanding”. The current auditors were unlikely to continue, so a new auditor must be appointed. He said he had “not found any fraud or theft at this stage that warrants an independent forensic audit”. The minutes also record outstanding tax, employment and labour compliance matters.
What needs to be done by the Board before the AGM
- The minutes list what must be done before an AGM can be held:
- a new auditor needs to be appointed;
- the 2025 and 2026 financial statements need to be completed;
- the Chairperson’s report,
- a confirmed membership register;
- compliance with notice and communication procedures.
They record the concern that an AGM held without these requirements met “would be futile”.
The 1948 Constitution has no amendment clause. As a general rule, an association’s members adopt constitutional amendments at a general meeting, not the board, so any Constitutional amendments would have to be put to the AGM that the order now requires by March 14, 2027.
The Board’s response
On September 23 Mr Sayed told Muslim Views that the matters it had raised were “subject to consideration and decision-making by the Board”. The Board’s decision to defer became public through its court papers. Muslim Views will report further once the Board announces the deferment and sets a date for the AGM.
