South African man claims he's 'stranded in Al-Asqa' after 'walking from Cape Town to Jerusalem'

A South African man claims he is stranded in Jerusalem and unable to return home after beginning a journey to the city from his home in Cape Town, on foot, two years ago.

Shahid bin Yusuf Takala has been living at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most holy site in Islam, for the past ten months, Arabi 21 reported.

Since then, media reports have emerged claiming that Takala was involved in defrauding Muslim pilgrims.

The "South African Faizal Sayed Show" made a series of allegations of fraud against Takala in 2017, also known as Shaheed Stakala. 

A number of people spoke to Faizal Sayed and claimed Takala cheated them out of money when they allegedly booked Umrah and Hajj packages through the man.

In a video posted online recently Takala claimed in an interview published by Arabi 21 that he attempted to travel back to South Africa via Jordan in March but was preveneted from continuing the journey due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Takala claimed to have set off by foot from South Africa on 15 August 2018 travelling through Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, before reaching Gaza.

A number of media outlets, including the Palestinian state news agency WAFA, have since removed stories of the Takala from their sites.

This article has been updated to include allegations of fraud made against Shahid bin Yusuf Takala.

The New Arab cannot independently verify these allegations and has requested a comment from the South African embassy on the issue.

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