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A wealthy South African Indian businessman's plans to build a private Hindu temple on his residential property have been scuppered by his mainly white neighbors.
Ishwar Mangaroo moved into the affluent suburb of Durban North, previously occupied only by the white community in the apartheid era, two months ago.
He said plans had been approved by the municipality to build a car park to house his cars worth more than rands 1.2 million and a temple for the family's use above the garage. But 27 of his mainly white neighbors have objected to the construction, saying the temple would lower the value of their properties.
Mangaroo was forced to stop construction work after a municipal building inspector warned him he could face a hefty fine or imprisonment if he continued while the process of hearing the objections was under way. Municipal authorities said although the plans had been approved, local residents were allowed 21 days to raise any objections, and that the matter would then be referred to an appeals board first.
Mangaroo, a devout Hindu, said he needed the prayer room to house his shrines. "There is a misconception (among my neighbors) that there's going to be loudhailers, firecrackers and an increase in crime and traffic in the area. My religious practice involves lots of prayer and meditation. In no way will my type of worship be detrimental to my neighbors' health," Mangaroo earlier told the weekly Sunday Times Extra. "Their objections are based on ignorance and assumptions. If the objectors do not understand my culture and my religion, how can they object to something that they do not understand?" he asked.
Mangaroo said he did not want to have any conflict with his neighbors. "All I am asking from them is religious tolerance," he said, adding that this was a fundamental human right in terms of the South African Constitution.
But while some of his neighbors, including a bank manager and a judge, saw it like that, most of his other neighbors did not, although they went to great pains to explain that their objections were not based on race considerations, but rather on practicalities.
"Our biggest objection is privacy," said one of the neighbors, Gavin Foxcroft. "All 27 of the objectors are strongly opposed to a religious building of that size in our little area," he said, adding that the temple would "detract from the ethos of the area which was a quiet neighborhood with people who cared for each other".
"His temple will look into my mother's dressing room and bedroom," said Mangaroo's immediate neighbor, Ronel Zabora-Bird.
The town planning appeals committee
of the Durban municipality will now hear the matter.
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