After months of political wrangling and court fights for control of the commercial hub of South Africa, a councilor from a minor Muslim party was chosen as the city’s mayor.
The municipal council elected Thapelo Amad of the Al Jama-ah party to succeed Mpho Phalatse, mayor of South Africa and a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the country’s main opposition group.
The first Muslim to lead the largest city in the nation, Amad, 41, said he was “humbled” and “overwhelmed” by the experience. He addressed the council following the vote that “it marks history in South Africa.” The fight against graft would be his main focus, he pledged.
The African National Congress (ANC), the party in power and the one with the most council seats, supported Amad in his election even though it came up short in the municipal elections in 2021 in terms of gaining an absolute majority. With Al Jamaah only having three of the 270 seats on the council, Amad’s appointment came as a surprise and came after months of coalition horse-trading.
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Earlier this week, a vote of no confidence led to the resignation of his predecessor, Phalatse, age 45. This was the third no-confidence vote the outgoing mayor has faced since her coalition’s collapse in September when she was first forced from office only to be later restored by the courts.
Following the ANC’s worst electoral performance since the inauguration of democracy in 1994, which saw it lose municipal elections, Phalatse became the first black woman to govern South Africa’s largest economic hub in 2021.
