Al Jama-ah

Political positionColours

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 and 2019 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 gim (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.

Ideology and principles

Al Jama-ah is a social democratic party^[9] 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.^[9] It also aims to implement "non-discriminatory socioeconomic policies" and encourage entrepreneurship.^[10]

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.^[10]

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.^[10]

Muslim marriages

Al Jama-ah championed the introduction and passing of two private member's bills.^[11] The Registration of Muslim Marriages bill introduced Muslim marriages into South African law.^[12] The second bill aimed to reform the Divorce Act of 1997 to comply with the new marriage legislation.^[13]

Election results

National Assembly

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

Provincial elections

Election[14][15]	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.^[16]

Election	Votes	%	+/–
2011[17]	13,227	0.04%	–
2016[18]	36,891	0.10%	+0.06
2021[19]	61,189	0.20%	+0.10

See also

• Africa Muslim Party

References

External links

• Al Jama-ah