South African National Halaal Authority (SANHA)

The South African National Halaal Authority (SANHA) is a non-profit halal certification body headquartered in Durban, South Africa, with branch offices in Gauteng and Cape Town. Launched on 20 October 1996, it was formed to give the country’s Muslim community a single representative national Halaal authority, and its membership brings together theological bodies and professional organisations. Certification decisions rest on uniform standards approved by mainstream Ulama, applied through the organization’s own SANHA Halaal Assurance System, known as SHAS.

SANHA’s certification portfolio spans abattoirs, food and beverage products, bakery and dairy lines, ingredient and flavour manufacturers, meat processors, restaurants, coffee shops, butcheries and other retail outlets, hospitality establishments, and consumer products, covering operations from multinational corporations to home industries. The organization describes its certification as an ongoing process rather than a one-time approval, with continuing audits of each certified Halaal programme. Industry references note that its certification work extends beyond South Africa to markets including Pakistan, Oman, Ghana, the United Arab Emirates, Europe, and India.

On the international stage, SANHA holds accreditation from the GCC Accreditation Center, granted in 2017, and from the Emirates International Accreditation Centre in the UAE, granted in 2019. It is recognised by JAKIM in Malaysia, MUIS in Singapore, the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology through recognition first issued by its predecessor ESMA in 2017, and by SASO in Saudi Arabia as a conformity assessment body. Its homepage also displays recognition marks of CICOT in Thailand and Qatar’s health ministry. SANHA is among the founder members of the World Halaal Council.