Arabiya News reported on 04 October 2012 as follows:
“South Africa on Thursday inaugurated a giant mosque complex built by Turkey, with 55-meter (180-foot) Ottoman minarets towering over a religious center the authorities described as the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
The Nizamiye mosque dominates the clear skies on the main highway between the capital Pretoria and economic hub Johannesburg.
President Jacob Zuma cut a red ribbon at the entrance to the structure, flanked by government ministers from South Africa and Turkey.
Built in three years, the complex houses a central mosque, bazaar, Islamic school, sports grounds and a clinic.
Wealthy Turkish property developer Orhan Celik built the complex with the blessing of Nelson Mandela, revered Nobel Laureate and the country’s first black president.
Mandela had insisted that a clinic be included.
The magnificent yellow structure, with its 24-meter (80-foot) diameter dome, is a replica of the 16th century Selimiye Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the town of Edirne in Turkey.”
Andrew Harvard Photography 