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Al Jama-ah

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[edit]

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]

Controversies[edit]

City of Johannesburg corruption[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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]

Africa Muslim Party

Al Jama-ah