Thapelo Amad is the first political leader from a Muslim political party to take the helm as mayor of Johannesburg since the dawn of democracy, thanks to the ANC.
Who is Thapelo Amad? – Here’s everything we know
Following Thursday’s dramatic events that culminated in the ousting of the DA’s Mpho Phalatse, the Johannesburg council reconvened to officiate the voting process for a new mayor.
As reported by SABC News, the dark horse in the race was Amad, an ANC ally whose political party, Al Jama-ah, dealt the DA a major upset by winning a hotly contested Lenasia ward in the 2021 by-elections.
In a statement, the ANC confirmed its intentions to field Amad as a ‘transitional’ mayor.
The Al Jama-ah leader went up against Phalatse and ActionSA’s former Roads and Transport MMC Funzile Ngobeni forward in what turned out to be yet another dramatic day in the council chambers.
Sure enough, the votes were tallied and Amad strolled to a comfortable win with 138 votes secured, compared to Phalatse’s 81 and Ngobeni’s 46 nods.
Here is everything we know about the new mayor:
Where is he from?
According to a Wikipedia page launched on the day rumblings of his ascension to the mayoral seat surfaced, Amad was reportedly born in Soweto.
Does he have any qualifications?
According to our research, Amad reportedly has a degree in Islamic sciences, as well as:
- an NQF Level 4 qualification in entrepreneurship; and
- an NQF Level 5 qualification in gender mainstreaming in public service.
What’s his political status?
At the time this article was published, Amad was a city councillor and provincial chairperson of Al Jama-ah, a minority political party that serves Muslim interests formed in 2007 by Ganief Hendricks.
If murmurs coming from Friday’s council sitting are true, then Amad may be sworn in as the new mayor of Johannesburg soon.
Any ‘dirt’ on him?
Little is known about Amad at this time. However, as reported by IOL News in September 2022, the Al Jama-ah leader was thrust into a corruption scandal involving a contract with Soweto Construction he allegedly oversaw as a former MMC of Development Planning.
However, according to Amad, the entire debacle was an alleged ploy by the DA to dent his political ambitions.
“These allegations are so misguided in a sense that the MMC is casting aspersions, it emanated from pillow talk when the first sponsor of the same allegations tried to portray a picture that he is attacked because they blew a whistle on the matter,” he said at the time.
News of Amad’s anticipated ascension to the highest seat in Johannesburg politics has since gone viral on social media. Here are a few reactions we picked: