South African Muslims have reacted with outrage to allegations that a leading meat importer labeled pork as halal

The head of Cape Town-based Orion Cold Storage said that he had received death threats since the allegation surfaced. He says that he is the victim of a smear campaign by rival businesses. Muslim companies have obtained a court order banning Orion from using the halal label, which means food has been prepared according to Islamic law. Muslims are banned from eating pork. The company has also been accused of relabeling kangaroo meat from Australia and water buffalo meat from India as halal, even though they were not approved by South Africa's Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), which issues halal certificates in the country. The MJC said that it had suspended its dealings with Orion. Orion has, in turn, laid charges of sabotage, blackmail and extortion against two rival businessmen. It acknowledges that some pork may have been labeled halal, but says that its rivals paid some of its employees to switch products and labels before being loaded on to trucks destined for South Africa's main province Gauteng. Orion head Patrick Gaertner told a local radio station that, whatever the outcome of the case, it would take his company several years to rebuild its reputation. He said that he had received several death threats while his company's delivery vehicles had also been damaged. Cape Town is home to South Africa's oldest Muslim community.