Al Jama-ah’s success story in the City of Johannesburg
Expanded article : Why Al Jama-ah is a trusted Party
Following the recent development in the city of Johannesburg mid 2019, when the government of local unity (GLU) removed the Democratic Alliance (DA) from government in the City of Johannesburg. Al Jama-ah occupied a position of section 79 oversight committee on governance. The committee does oversight on the office of the executive mayor and that of the city manager. This position was occupied by its sole councilor at the time, his name is Thapelo Amad.
Towards the end of the year, in 2019, during the fall out of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the African National Congress (ANC), the GLU was threatened by collapse. At the time, Al Jama-ah had just won Lenasia ward 9 from the DA. And Councilor Thapelo Amad was appointed onto the mayoral committee by the then executive mayor cllr. Geoff Makhubo – to oversee the Department of development & planning, and the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA).
Al Jama- ah has successfully made its mark in government. We’ve ascended into the livers of government, and entered the Land question debate. We have demonstrated our ability to govern and transform the lives of the historically marginalized. We have successfully tabled reports and pushed forward two Mega Land projects: the Southern Farm and the Lanseria Mega project, that seeks to open the corridors of economy, and address the historical injustices of the spatial planning in the city of Johannesburg. The previously marginalized communities are placed in the peripheries in the North and South of Johannesburg.
The development will cater to a mixed use of the infrastructure and will resuscitate the broken economy. It will also create the agility to integrate the society, turn the city into a construction site and bring industries closer to people, with that we advocate for the principle of Batho Pele, which means People first.
During the period of the covid 19 pandemic, Al Jama-ah embraced the notion of the “New Normal” and launched the online system called Construction Permit Management System (CPMS) within the department of development planning. The aim was to make the business of doing business easier, enabling the online application of building plans, approvals, illuminating queues and alleged corruption of city officials. We’ve opened the department to communities, through partnerships and stakeholder engagement, and as a result many lives were transformed, SMME’s were empowered and given the all persons equal opportunity to build. Aspirant high school children were empowered through the I AM THE FUTURE initiative that was championed by cllr Amad.
Post 2021 local government elections, Al Jama-ah chooses to sit on the opposition benches on questions of policy and principle. At the time the DA couldn’t constitute government, both the DA leader John Stein Heisen and Hellen Zille approaches Al Jama-ah to collaborate and stabilize government in the city of Johannesburg, based on the conflicting view of the middle east conflict between Palestine and Israel, Al Jama-ah has declared the DA to be an organization that represent apartheid and a party that can never be trusted. DA at the time has limited options, they sent the Action SA leader Herman Mashaba to persuade Al Jama-ah but the results are the same. The Patriotic Alliance floor crosses from the GLU, they then constitute government called Malty party government (MPG), the DA is still eyeing Al Jama-ah, then sends the PA to reach out, but the results are the same.
The above is the clear demonstration of Al Jama-ah as a trusted political party in South Africa, trusted by other political parties and the society at large. The DA did not have full confidence in its own partners, but had full confidence in Al Jama-ah, so to the ANC and many more political parties. We’re growing as a political party that represents all communities. With unwavering support from both our Muslim community and people out of Islamic faith.
in 2022 Al Jama-ah responded to the MPG position of purging black professionals and SMME’s purely based on color and gentrification of the city’s outlook. When the DA and the MPG escalated the tension, Al Jama-ah escalated the campaign and formed a block of minorities parties in the city of Johannesburg, supported by the African independent congress (AIC), African Heart congress, Good Party, United democratic Movement, African People’s convention and the Pan Africanist Congress. The AIC was asked to chair the block and Al Jama-ah to hold secretariate.
The block enjoyed the sideline support of the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) and the ANC. Together we overthrew the MPG. Al Jama-ah made history in the city of Johannesburg, one of the first minority parties in the country, the to hold a position of government, in the mayoral chain.
Al Jama-ah has three councilors in the city, Kabelo Gwamanda, the current executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Thapelo Amad, the former executive mayor of Johannesburg and current chairperson of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) Gauteng, and lastly the beloved ward councilor of ward 9 Johannesburg. Cllr Imran Moosa, who is a chairperson of the Section 79 oversight committee on Environment Infrastructure and Services Department (EISD).
Service delivery is a priority in Johannesburg. In the 3 month period executive mayor Thapelo Amad stood at Mayor, he appointed the city manager and commenced the process of appointing the Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO), and the Group Chief Operations Officer (COO), and secured a R2 billion loan, to stabilize the city’s financials – to pay service providers, and city’s employees and ensure that service delivery continued unabated. To ensure continued service delivery, the city had to operationalize the little budget the GLU found, before prioritizing the collection of revenues through entities that generates income for the city.
The succession plan of the GLU from councilor Thapelo Amad to councilor Kabelo Gwamanda ensured a smooth transition of government and continuity of services, it is also shows that Al Jama-ah is capable of leading the biggest city in Africa, with the net worth of R83 billion and 6 million residents entrusted to Al Jama-ah.
This is the beginning of the Al Jama-ah story in the city of Johannesburg. The second Al Jama-ah administration is now underway, under the stewardship of Executive Mayor Cllr Kabelo Gwamada.