Arrival of South African pilgrims marks the start of Hajj season

Abdulwahid Saifaddin, chairman of the Establishment of Pilgrims from Non-Arab African Countries, and Mahdi Basadien, South Africa’s consul general in Jiddah, greeted the visitors.

Saifaddin said that his organization will take care of nearly 180,000 non-Arab African pilgrims this year, a marked increase from 2007.

Basadien predicted that 5,000 South Africans will participate in the 2008 Hajj.

The arrival of the first group of pilgrims heralds the start of the 45-day Hajj season.