Conference Registration

Registration tables will be open from 16:00 to 18:30 on Sunday 1 October on the 6^th floor at the Coastlands Hotel in Musgrave.  All delegates MUST have registered and will require their name tags to enter the opening dinner venue. Delegates are expected to register again on Monday morning from 8:00 to 8:50 to collect a conference gift bag. 

Parking for local guest

Limited Free parking on the premises has been arranged. Please validate your parking card at reception before leaving the parking lot.

Conference seating

Conference style seating will be arranged. Females will be seated on the right of the hall, while males will be seated on the left of the hall.

A similar arrangement will be maintained in the dining area.   

Meal Certification

All GAIS meals will be supervised by the National Independent Halaal Trust (NIHT)

International guest eating out

Please ensure you check the Halaal status of establishments if you are eating out in malls or shopping centres.

Three widely accepted and reliable Halaal certification bodies in South Africa are

1. South African National Halaah Authority (SANHA),
2. National Independent Halaal Trust (NIHT) and
3. Muslim Judicial Council (MJC).  

 

Dinners

Sunday 1 October (for all registered delegates) – Welcome and Opening session followed by Dinner. This event will be immediately after maghrieb salaah. Guests should arrive by 18:30, and be seated by 18:40 for a 18:50 start, Insha Allah.

Monday 2 October (for all registered delegates) – Dinner (South African Braai Barbeque) will be at the Exotic Conference centre in Crescent Street at 19:00. A special shuttle service will be provided for all guests booked at the Coastlands Musgrave Hotel to the dinner venue and back, Insha Allah. 

Local guests will make their own way to the Exotic Conference centre.

Tuesday 3 October (for all registered delegates) – A Gala Dinner will be held at the Coastlands Hotel in Musgrave. This event will be immediately after maghrieb salaah. Guests should arrive by 18:30, and be seated by 18:40 for a18:50 start, Insha Allah.

Booking for Dinners

All registered delegates are invited for the three above dinners, but we kindly request you to fill out this google form by clicking here before 12GMT on Sunday 24 September, as confirmed numbers are required for planning and catering purposes. Many thanks for assisting in this regard.

Wednesday 4 October (only for guests still booked in at the Coastlands Hotel) – Dinner will be at a restaurant in the area and is only provided for GAIS guests still booked in the Coastlands hotel. A special shuttle service will be provided for all guests to the dinner venue and back, Insha Allah. 

We will draw the names of guests for this dinner from the Hotel reception.

 

Salaah Facilities for guests booked at the Hotel

The hotel has kindly provided a salaah facility on the sixth floor next to the conference venue for the duration of the conference for all 5 daily prayers for guests booked at the hotel.

We will have a 20 minute Khatira daily after Fajr and Maghrieb on the theme, How to purify your heart and journey closer to Allah.

Fajr Azaan 4:45, Jamaat 5:00, Khatira ends 5:25

All other salaah times as per conference program

 

Lunch and Zohr Salaah

All lunches on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be served at Coastlands Hotel. One hour 20 minutes have been allocated for Zohr and lunch. Delegates can choose whether to pray first or eat first, this will help with congestion at the limited wudhu facilities at the hotel.

There are 2 options for Zohr salaah.

1. There are 2 Masaajid within 500 m of the venue. Locals can drive to the Masaajid and also take some out of town guests with them. The Musgrave Musjid has adequate and good facilities for ladies. We will also have two 10 seater shuttle service vehicles available for out of town guests.
2. We will have a salaah facility for males and females set up next to the conference room. Hotel guest can make wudhu in their rooms, and pray at the hotel salaah facilities. The challenge is the Hotel does not have adequate wudhu facilities but have allowed us to use their bathroom facilities. So some guest can use hotel bathrooms to make wudhu and pray at the hotel.

 

Program

Click here to download a copy of the programme. 

 

Drive to Beach Front on Monday 2 Oct for International guests

Subject to time and demand, we will have a 30 seater coaster to take International guests to the beach front. We can depart from the hotel at 16:30, pray Maghrieb at a musjid close to the beach and go straight for dinner to Exotic Conference centre. Click here to register, as numbers are required for planning purposes.

Those hotel guests not going to the beach drive, we will have a shuttle service from the hotel to the Exotic Conference centre for dinner. shuttle will depart at 18:40 from hotel reception.

Outreach event planned for Tuesday morning, Insha Allah

The GAIS Conference outreach has been arranged in partnership with Darul Ihsan and Human Aid, registered South African Welfare and Aid Organizations that work both locally and internationally.

Darul Ihsan and Human Aid volunteers will escort delegates in shuttle busses to different  locations and centers in the greater Durban area, to participate in outreach feeding and education projects. Busses will leave from the Coastlands Hotel at 8:30, distribute the aid provided, engage with the under-privileged communities and view some of the Human Aid projects. We will return to the hotel in time for Zohr and lunch, Insha Allah.

A link will shortly be shared with delegates to register for the outreach program of their choice, as numbers are required for planning purposes.

Shuttle Service from King Shaka Airport (Durban) to Coastlands Hotel Musgrave.

For your safety and comfort, we negotiated Rates with a reliable service provider to provide a shuttle service from the Airport to Coastlands Hotel Musgrave and back.

1 to 3 Passengers R500.00

1 to 7 Passengers R800.00

1 to 13 Passengers R900.00

You may pay using your Credit card. (Ensure your bank has been authorized for payments in South Africa)

For booking you can email res@lotustours.co.za or online booking use this link https://book.mylimobiz.com/v4/coastallotus

Feel free to contact Ishen Devraj +27083 7394273 or +27064 0894812

Car Hire from Woodford car Rentals

We negotiated with a reliable Car hire business who generously offered a 15% discount on car hire.

To book kindly visit https://www.woodford.co.za  The voucher code will be: *WF-AMS*

Valid until 28 September 2023. Feel free to contact Kevin Pillay +27 733786817 or Kevin.pillay@ehiglobal.co.za for further assistance.

Tours in Durban or South Africa

International guests wanting to arrange a Durban City Tour or visit other cities like Cape Town, or game reserves, may contact the following Muslim owned Travel Agencies in Durban for assistance.

One Stop – www.onestoptours.co.za or Charmaine Beatrice +27 83 777 57 67

Royal Travel – www.royaltravel.co.za

Sure Mirage Travel – www.miragetravel.co.za

 

Emergency contact numbers

1. Pharmacy – Mediquick Pharmacy – Whatsapp Number +2760 901 9113 (Monday to Thursday 8am – 8pm)
2. Dentist – Doctor Yusuf Mahomed – Mobile Number +2782 342 1993, Rooms Number 031 303 5818, Suite 5 Building 2, 104 Smiso Nkwanyana Road, Morningside

More details to follow.

Link to Conference brochure

Click to download

Online Questionnaires and Surveys

1. Delegates will be invited to take the “Communication Questionnaire for the session with Deon Basson”. A link will be shared here shortly
2. Click her to take the Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire https://www.mtdtraining.com/free-eq-test
3. Click her to Complete the LeaderDNA diagnostic to Benchmark yourself against 96key leadership skills https://www.mtdtraining.com/leaderdna

 

Request for Attendance certificates

Kindly complete the post event evaluation form to get an attendance certificate.

This form will only open on the afternoon of 4 October 2023.

Inserts – Distribution of Marketing material for your organisation

There may be an opportunity for organisations (related to Islamic Education) to distribute marketing material to attendees at a cost of $100. You will need to get approximately 120 copies of the material to me before 28 September 2023 for inclusion in the conference gift bag. We will accommodate the first 10 requests only.

If you are interested, please email Zaffar on mzahmed@gais.network with the details of your organisation and what you intend sharing. Once approved I will share details for delivery of your marketing material. Only approved distributions will be allowed at the retreat.