Al Jama-ah Councillor becomes Mayor of CoJ
On the 27 th January 2023 Al Jama-ah Party Councillor Thapelo Amad was elected Major of Johannesburg – a historical moment for our political party as well as for the democracy in South Africa. Minority parties in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) have afforded Al Jama-ah the privilege of choosing a young Thapelo Abubakr Amad as a Mayoral Candidate and with the endorsement and support of the bigger parties, he has become the first duly elected Minority Mayor in the CoJ. Amad, who is an Imam, born and bred in Soweto and is Al Jama-ah’s provincial chairperson.
This is a historical day for Al Jama-ah our Honorable President Ganief Hendricks and all minority parties,the bigger parties in support and indeed for many across the country,let alone the world, the inauguration of our brother Mayor Imam Abubakr Thapelo Amad. This is history for all minority parties and all those who have requested Al Jama-ah to lead.It is the moment we realize the importance of minority parties,and the change of country to coalition and co-governance.
Jo’ burg is crime infested and with dilapidated and outdated infrastructure.This cannot be changed overnight but there needs to be a constructive plan and visible action and less talk.
In all this hive of activity the Mayor remains humble,conscious, of his role toward his party and the very important task at hand being the mayor for most importantly the residents of JHB and a Mayor for all parties.
This is a very important step in coalition and co-governance in that a lead needs to be taken where a consultative role is used to ensure amongst parties,that heed is given to each parties constituents surrounding service delivery for indeed when parties sit down they find a strength and a common goal to help the people.
PEOPLE BEFORE POLITICS! START PUTTING HUMANITY FIRST
The residents in the CoJ have experienced a great deal of disruptions in their daily lived experience because of a lack of priorities and poor decision making by the previous administration. These include but not limited to: the termination of employment contracts of employees in the City which impacts negatively on the capacity to deliver services, the recalling of the City’s fleet across all critical departments by service providers due to non-payment,and with the fleet essentially being the means to deliver services, the City accelerated on a downward spiral.
These issues together with a wide variety of others, primarily attributed to the previous administration’s obsession with settling of political scores by stifling processes and core functions of the City such as revenue collections were amongst the direct implications that were leading to the detriment of a World Class African City.
As a party we expect from our Councillor a true reflection of a collaborative government, practical representation of minority parties as well as opposition parties in all his service delivery drives. Our expectations are that of prioritsing of the reactivation of the core functions of the CoJ that are drivers of service delivery as a matter of urgency. For Executive Mayor to leverage opportunities derived from exploring the definition of a City with the richest square mile in Africa and how that can help to realise a meaningful transformation agenda that is balanced and pro-poor as part of his plans. This Mayor is not only tasked with catering to the bigger political parties’ constituency, which is in itself diverse in nature but to also capture the imagination of those who have lost hope in the government. The task at hand requires a servant that is committed, humble and diligent.
We therefore, as Al Jama-ah, extend our gratitude to the political parties that form part of the Minority Opposition Parties as well as to the broader Government of Local Unity for the confidence placed on Al Jama-ah’s Mayoral Candidate, Cllr Amad. Although the privilege is accepted with open arms, so are the challenges in the CoJ . We hope that the collective will remain united in collaborating efforts to better the lives of the residents in the CoJ.
