Shockingly Ayyaz confirms that PMT Management Committee, under which the Mosques, School, Welfare and Burial supposedly run… does not exist
Allegations of serious mismanagement, irregularities and allegations of giving statements falsely on behalf of the PMT and misrepresenting the PMT, are once more hounding the Pretoria Muslim Trust.
This follows the Laudium Sun sending, this past Wednesday, (Oct 23) a list of allegations and concerns received from the community, to the head of the PMT, Flywell’s Ayyaz Ahmed and others, for a response. The list wasbalso sent to Mahier Tayob, who is the known last auditor of the PMT and who was accepted as a mediator by the said Ayyaz, on behalf of the PMT, in trying to resolve the various complaints made recently by members of the community against the PMT. After the list of complaints was sent and while Mahier was still trying at the last minute to get the aggrieved parties to ‘sit around a table’ with members of the PMT and the Laudium Sun, in trying to address and resolve the complaints on hand and to avoid publication of this article, Ayaaz seemed to have jumped the gun, by instructing an attorney to act on his behalf and apparently without a mandate, on behalf of the PMT. Mahier’s response to the PMT and Ayyaz engaging an attorney was, “….I am unsure whether further communication was exchanged between the parties, post my mail below that prompted the legal letter. I urged Nazeer [of the Laudium Sun] to reconsider and now astonished that this matter has progressed to this level. I say this with the strictest qualification that no further mails were exchanged after my mail. The letter will obviously attract a response [from the Laudium Sun], however what is evident is that no Audited Financial Statements exists beyond 2021. This is a serious irregularity and we must be mindful that the PMT will suffer reputational harm. Funders will shy away and the PMT will again fall into chaos and disrepute. I again call upon the parties to consider engaging each other, if not let it play out to the detriment of the PMT”.
CONCERNS RAISED BY COMMUNITY
Some of the concerns or allegations raised by members of the community which were sent to Ayyaz by the Laudium Sun include; the outstanding audited financials, which Ayyaz and his crew were supposed to have concluded two years back, after they were co-opted onto the PMT four years back with a clear understanding that the outstanding financials should be up to date and audited within 2 years of them being co-opted. Complaints were also received that Ayyaz, as head of the PMT and custodian of the constitution of the PMT, failed in his duty to ensure that the PMTManagement Committee (PMC) was run in accordance with the constitution. This follows the PMC having no chairperson for months and having no secretary for over a year. Furthermore the PMC, under who the various sub-committees, such as the Mosque (including the Jewel Str, Bengal Str and Himalaya Street Mosques), the Welfare, the School and Burial fall in terms of the constitution, have apparently not had a meeting for about 18 months, despite the constitution of the PMT clearly stating that the PMC should have meetings at least once in 3 months. Other complaints included that Ayyaz was seen by some members of the PMC as a bully and ran the PMT and it’s sub-committees as a dictator, by-passing the PMC or ensuring that the PMC did not function, so that all
matters could be dealt with him as the head of the Trust Board of the PMT. Other complaints include, Ayyaz and his team refusing to or failing to submit minutes of their meetings when requested by a member of the community.
BOMBSHELL RESPONSE
In response, the attorney instructed by Ayyaz in his private capacity and on behalf of the PMT (apparently without a mandate from the PMT) responded to our mail with a very shocking and surprising response. Herewith a summary of some of their responses, which were made on behalf of Ayyaz and the PMT….
- Ayyaz and the PMT state that the audited financials of the PMT (for the past few years) is “likely” only to be completed by the end of April 2025. Despite not having audited financials the PMT has still gone out on several fund raising drives.
- In response to our mail stating that certain members of the PMC also complained about the state of affairs of the PMT and about Ayyaz being a dictator. Further allegations are that Ayyaz deliberately did not ensure that the PMC was being run in terms of the PMT Constitution, so that all issues of the PMC could then be referred to him, thus giving him some importance, therefore he did not ensure that a chairperson and secretary were appointed by the PMC as soon as the resignations of the said officials were received. In response, Ayyaz and the PMT shockingly stated through their attorney that, “At present there is only one management committee member, namely one Mr Dawood Aboobaker. AK Mahomed and Afsar Alli Mia resigned in August 2024 and at the end of 2023 respectively….. As such my clients are uncertain as to who has been complaining… Mr Ahmed denies that he has bullied a [sic] management committee [sic] and its subcommitees. As already stated, there is no management committee, it consists of one individual, Dawood Aboobaker. As such the allegations you have made are meritless.” This shocking response was made by the head of the PMT, Ayyaz and the PMT, despite the PMT Constitution clearly stating that the Management Committee of the PMT (PMC) shall consist of 40 members with the option of co-opting another 15 members and that meetings should be held at least once in 3 months. The PMC is also responsible for the daily running of the three Mosques, the School, the Welfare and Burial Committee. The question now is to who has the PMC been reporting all this time and can the PMC still operate banking accounts and collect funds from the public?
- In our email, the Laudium Sun also stated that complaints were received that members of the public requested minutes of all meetings of all committees of the PMT, to verify allegations made that Ayyaz and one or two members of the PMT, including his family members, had made many controversial decisions, such requests were ignored. Ayyaz and the PMT responded as follows through their attorney. “I have been informed that you have not requested the PMT for access to the minutes or the financial statements.” Really now? Just when did the Laudium Sun ask for the minutes of the meeting. The requests came from members of the community, with one member even stating that he sent a request via his attorney, for which no response was received. (see part letter below)
Former auditors question claim of new auditors appointed by PMT
* A letter sent to Ayyaz and the PMT by attorneys on behalf of their client, concerning a request for the minutes of the meetings of the various PMT committees, which Ayyaz did not respond to.*
Ayyaz and the PMT claimed through their attorney that they have appointed new auditors to finalise the books, after the resignation of auditors from Tayfin. However Tayfin’s Nabeelah Aboo stated, “We have not been severed with any professional letter from any firm of auditors regarding the PMT. A letter is normally sent in accordance with requirements of Section 210 of IFAC CODE of ETHICS, detailing a few questions for the incumbent auditor regarding the client. Permission is normally obtained from the client to communicate with the incumbent auditors. The questions
include:
1. Please indicate your understanding of the reasons for the change in auditors?
2. Were there any disagreements between yourselves and the client over any accounting principles, audit, review or compilation procedures, or other significant matters during the two most recent years and any subsequent interim period?
2.1 If so, please describe these disagreements?
3. Were there any Reportable Irregularities reported as per Section 45 of the Auditing Professions Act, Act no 26 of 2005, in the last two years?
3.1 If yes, please provide us with the relevant details of those matters reported and copies of all the correspondence.
4. Are you aware of any reportable conditions / material weakness in the internal control structure?
5. Were there any restatements of auditing accounts in the last three years ?
5.1 If so, please provide us with the details of those restatements.
6. Have your fees been paid in full?
7. Are your aware of any negative factors impacting on management integrity?
7.1 If so, kindly provide us with the relevant details.
8. Are there any other professional reasons why we should not accept the client?
8.1 If so, please provide us with necessary information.
*There are many other contradictions in the response forwarded by the attorney on behalf of Ayyaz and the PMT, which due to space and time constraints the Laudium Sun is unable to publish at this time. The Laudium Sun has meanwhile requested the said attorney of the PMT to furnish us with the mandate allegedly given to Ayyaz on behalf of the PMT, for the attorney to act on behalf of the PMT, which was not received at the time of going to press.
