Al Jama-ah

Al Jama-ah الجماعة
Leader	Ganief Hendricks
Founded	23 April 2007
Headquarters	Howard Centre, Pinelands, Cape Town
Ideology	Islamic democracy Social conservatism Anti-Zionism Ubuntu
Political position	Fiscal: Left-wing[1] Cultural/Ethical: Right-wing[2][3]
Colours	Green   Black   Red
National Assembly	2 / 400
National Council of Provinces	0 / 90
Western Cape Provincial Parliament	1 / 42
Cape Town City Council	3 / 231
Party flag
Website
www.aljama.co.za
Politics of South Africa Political parties Elections

Al Jama-ah (Arabic: الجماعة, lit. 'the Congregation') is a South African political party. It was formed in 2007 by present leader Ganief Hendricks and contested the 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024 national elections.^[4]

The party aims to support Muslim rights and interests, though the party states that it supports working for the shared interest of all South Africans from different religious and cultural backgrounds.^[5][6] The flag of Al Jama-ah depicts a white ǧīm (ج, the first letter in its Arabic name), upon a field consisting of the other Islamic colours. In January 2023, party member Thapelo Amad became Mayor of Johannesburg.^[7] He resigned in April and was replaced by fellow party member Kabelo Gwamanda.

History

Until 2019, the party had no elected representatives nationally or provincially although it came close in both the 2009 and 2014 elections, and won nine seats at the local level in the 2016 municipal elections.

It made a breakthrough in 2019, winning its first national representative (becoming the first Islam-affiliated party to do so), as well as one seat in the Western Cape legislature.

In October 2019, its member of parliament for the Western Cape, Izgak De Jager, was replaced by Galil Brinkhuis after De Jager was accused of not complying with an agreement to pay 50% of his gross salary to the party. De Jager in turn stated that the agreement was to pay 50% of the net, not gross salary, and accused the party of failing to disclose its debt to its members.^[8]

In January 2023, Al Jama-ah's Thapelo Amad was chosen as Mayor of Johannesburg with the support of the African National Congress.^[7] He resigned in April and was replaced by fellow party member Kabelo Gwamanda.

In 2024, the party retained its single seat in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament and gained an additional seat in the National Assembly, but claims that it turned down an offer from the African National Congress to participate in a Government of National Unity as it did not wish to be part of any coalition with the Democratic Alliance.^[9]

Ideology and principles

Al Jama-ah is a social democratic party^[10] with a focus on food and water security, education, and economic equality.

Economic policy

The party aims to eliminate value-added tax on essential food items such as bread, milk, and eggs. Further, it believes in legislation promoting land reform and the equitable distribution of the means of production.^[10] It also aims to implement "non-discriminatory socioeconomic policies" and encourage entrepreneurship.^[11]

Education

The main educational aims of the party are to provide free textbooks and stationery at all education levels. It also wants to improve the quality of public schooling to dismantle the legacy of unequal access to education left by Apartheid. Further, it believes in an adult basic education program to improve national literacy.^[11]

Health care

Al Jama-ah supports a high quality public health care system. It wants to implement national health insurance and improve the management of hospitals and health centers. Further, it aims to set up mobile clinics in areas with poor health care access.^[11]

Muslim marriages

Al Jama-ah championed the introduction and passing of two private member's bills.^[12] The Registration of Muslim Marriages bill introduced Muslim marriages into South African law.^[13] The second bill aimed to reform the Divorce Act of 1997 to comply with the new marriage legislation.^[14]

Controversies

City of Johannesburg corruption

Thapelo Amad, an Al Jama-ah councillor in the City of Johannesburg, served as the city's Mayor for less than three months in 2023, and was forced to resign ahead of a motion of no confidence in his fitness for office.^[15] Amad came under fire for referring to a R9.5 billion loan offer to the City from a private company. ^[16] Amad was replaced as Mayor by one of only three Al Jama-ah councillors in the City of Johannesburg, Kabelo Gwamanda, who was elected with the support of the ANC and the EFF.^[17] Gwamanda also survived a motion of no confidence after he was accused of running an illegal funeral scheme.^[18] He is alleged to have deserted investors in his funeral insurance scheme after they claimed funeral benefits.^[19] Gwamanda is under investigation by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.^[20]

Fugitive prophet

Party leader Hendricks admitted to having travelled to Malawi to meet fugitive prophet Shepherd Bushiri, a wanted man who fled South Africa following charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to over R100 million as well as charges of rape and sexual assault.^[21] Hendricks returned from Malawi with a prophetic prediction from Bushiri, indicating the party's electoral support would increase. Hendricks told Newzroom Afrika that the party expected one million votes after Bushiri advised his three million congregants to vote for Al Jama-ah.^[22] The party went on to only receive about 39 000 votes on the national ballot.

Prayer for the ANC

Galil Brinkhuis, a religious leader who represents Al Jama-ah in the Western Cape Provicial Parliament made a prayer for the African National Congress during a sitting of the legislature on the eve of the 2024 elections, adding that he hoped the party would take the lead in province.^[23] Al Jama-ah distanced itself from Brinkhuis's prayer, saying that it was out of line with party interests. Brinkhuis later apologised and said that it was a mistake to pray for another party's success.^[24]

Election results

National Assembly

Election	Total votes	Share of vote	Seats	+/–	Government
2009	25,947	0.15	0 / 400	New	extraparliamentary
2014	25,976	0.14	0 / 400		extraparliamentary
2019	31,468	0.18	1 / 400	1	in opposition
2024	39,067	[Note 1]0.24	2 / 400	1	in opposition

1. From 2024, seats in the National Assembly are determined by a combination of the national ballot, and the nine regional ballots. Only the national ballot figures are shown here.

Provincial elections

Election[25][26]	Eastern Cape		Free State		Gauteng		Kwazulu-Natal		Limpopo		Mpumalanga		North-West		Northern Cape		Western Cape
	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats
2014	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.62%	0/42
2019	0.15%	0/63	–	–	0.18%	0/73	0.28%	0/80	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.86%	1/42

Municipal elections

In a by-election in November 2020, Al-Jama-ah won a ward in the City of Johannesburg from the Democratic Alliance.^[27]

Election	Votes	%	+/–
2011[28]	13,227	0.04%	–
2016[29]	36,891	0.10%	+0.06
2021[30]	61,189	0.20%	+0.10

See also

• Africa Muslim Party

References

1. Ebrahim, Shaazia (31 January 2019). "Al Jama-ah Party: We'll Tackle Inequality With Islam And Ubuntu". thedailyvox. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
2. Lagardien, Ismail (19 November 2020). "Al Jama-ah: The small Islamic political party with a narrow vision and big ambitions". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
3. De Barros, Luiz (2 February 2023). "New Johannesburg mayor is from openly queerphobic party". Mamba. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
4. "Final List of Parties to contest the 2009 Elections". Polity.org.za. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
5. "Al Jama-ah's Constitution 2023 – Aljama-ah Muslim Political Party". www.aljama.co.za. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
6. "Mainfesto – Aljama-ah Muslim Political Party". www.aljama.co.za. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
7. Ramushwana, Alpha. "Al Jama-ah's Thapelo Amad is Johannesburg's new mayor". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
8. newsroom (6 December 2019). "Al Jama-ah rocked by internal politics – Voice of the Cape". Retrieved 11 October 2021.
9. Ramushwana, Alpha. "GNU Talks: Al Jama-ah turns down ANC, cites DA as hindrance". EWN. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
10. Haffajee, Ferial (16 May 2024). "Al Jama-ah manifesto: food baskets, NHI and digital divide". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
11. "manifesto – Aljama-ah Muslim Political Party". www.aljama.co.za. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
12. "The Marriage Bill Explained – Aljama-ah Muslim Political Party". www.aljama.co.za. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
13. Registration of Muslim Marriages Bill. ISBN 978-1-4850-0837-8. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
14. "Muslim Religious Marriage Bills 2022 – Aljama-ah Muslim Political Party". www.aljama.co.za. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
15. "Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad resigns ahead of no-confidence vote". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
16. Mahlati, Zintle. "Joburg Mayor Thapelo Amad faces axing after R9.5bn loan claim, PA admits it backed 'wrong horse'". News24. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
17. Haffajee, Ferial (24 April 2023). "Joburg to get another no-name brand mayor as Thapelo Amad walks the plank". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
18. Mahlati, Zintle. "'He can't run a R70bn city': ActionSA files motion to remove Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda". News24. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
19. "FSCA investigation into Joburg Mayor long overdue: Analyst - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader". 20 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
20. https://www.timeslive.co.za/authors/sisanda-mbolekwa. "Joburg mayor Gwamanda ran illegal funeral scheme: FSCA". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 15 June 2024. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
21. Ramushwana, Alpha. "Al Jama-ah leader reveals party received a prophecy from Bushiri on its poll performance". EWN. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
22. Newzroom Afrika (27 May 2024). Al Jama-ah gunning for a million votes. Retrieved 15 June 2024 – via YouTube.
23. Ludidi, Velani (22 May 2024). "Al Jama-ah member of Western Cape legislature rebuked and forced to apologise after praying for ANC election win". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
24. Charles, Marvin. "'It was a mistake': Al Jama-ah MPL faces heat for praying for ANC victory". News24. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
25. "Election Resources on the Internet: Republic of South Africa General Election Results Lookup".
26. "Results Dashboard". www.elections.org.za. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
27. Khumalo, Juniour. "The DA was the biggest loser in this week's by-elections". Citypress. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
28. "Detailed results" (PDF). elections.org.za. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
29. "Results Summary – All Ballots" (PDF). elections.org.za. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
30. "IEC Results Dashboard". results.elections.org.za. Retrieved 1 November 2021.

External links

• Al Jama-ah