Al-Qalam 
Al Qalam Reporter
Farhad Omar, the Chief executive officer of ITV who spearheaded the only home-grown Muslim TV station in South Africa, has retired after 10 years of leading the broadcaster.
In a media statement, endorsed by 12 Islamic organizations, Omar was praised for his “visionary leadership”.
The joint statement read: “The Muslim Community of South Africa, notes the retirement of Farhad Omar as CEO of ITV. Under Omar’s leadership, ITV became a leading Muslim Community broadcaster that penetrated homes across South Africa and into the rest of Africa. During this time, ITV Networks delivered a diverse mix of Afro-Centric content, from current affairs to spiritual upliftment, to news, business and documentaries to education and Islamic entertainment.”
“In almost over a decade at ITV, Farhad selflessly committed himself to building ITV into a truly community-oriented, impactful broadcaster. Through his visionary leadership, Farhad secured the rights to broadcast the annual Hajj pilgrimage live from Makkah, Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina allowing our communities for the first time in our history to connect with the Hujjaj during the biggest global assembly of Muslims.”
“In addition, under Farhad’s leadership, diverse viewpoints represented by many organisations, were given the freedom and opportunity to showcase their work, which created the space for our community to galvanise around the principle of “unity in diversity”.
The statement further pointed out that Omar had created a platform for many organisations to raise hundreds of millions of rands for charities across South Africa through launching various television pledge lines.
“These pledge lines created an opportunity for our community to contribute to various charitable causes that have so positively impacted the most vulnerable in our society.”
“We are grateful, and note with pride, Farhad Omar’s contribution to South Africa and the global ummah. We wish him well in his future endeavours and pray that Allah (SWT) accepts his efforts in the tireless pursuit of transforming lives.”
The bodies that wished him well in his retirement were, amongst others, were the Muslim Judicial Council; Al Gazali College; ASRI; Awqaf SA; Imam Haron Foundation; IPCI; Islamic Relief South Africa; Jam ’Eyyatul Qurra; Madina Institute; Muslim Educational Institute Trust; Muslim Views and SAMNET.
