South Africa military ends hijab ban

South Africa’s military has changed its dress policy to allow Muslim women to wear hijabs with their uniforms.

It is a victory for Maj Fatima Isaacs, who led a three-year legal battle for her religious right to wear a headscarf beneath her military beret.

The change of heart comes after the military dropped charges last week against Maj Isaacs for wearing one.

She had faced dismissal for “wilful defiance and disobeying a lawful command” for refusing to remove it.

Maj Isaacs, who works as a clinical forensic pathologist at a military hospital, told the Cape Times it was a victory not only for her, but all people who were “silently victimized” because of their religion.

She also thanked the Legal Resource Centre a rights group which took up her case in 2019.