{
  "id": 17978284,
  "title": "OUR CITY NEWS: Despite a turbulent past, Al Jama-ah eyes a third shot at Joburg mayoralty",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/our-city-news-despite-a-turbulent-past-al-jama-ah-eyes-a-third-shot",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-03T15:10:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Maverick",
    "slug": "daily-maverick",
    "url": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-11-03-despite-a-turbulent-past-al-jama-ah-eyes-a-third-shot-at-joburg-mayoralty/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Despite Johannesburg's history of political instability, Al Jama-ah is eyeing a third bid for the mayoralty in the city. Party leader Ashley Mama advocates for Al Jama-ah as a catalyst for investment, local entrepreneurship, and accountable governance, with a stern approach towards migrants. Mama envisions Johannesburg becoming one of the world's leading cities within five years, provided the city has the right political leadership to harness its potential. However, before Mama can initiate city transformation, he must convince voters that Al Jama-ah, a smaller party that has previously held the mayoralty through coalition agreements, offers something unique.\n\nThe party's previous mayors, Thapelo Amad and Kabelo Gwamanda, ascended to the position with the backing of larger coalition partners, such as the ANC and the EFF, rather than through a strong electoral mandate of their own. Both did not complete their full terms – Amad resigned after less than three months in 2023 due to controversy surrounding a proposed multibillion-rand investment deal, while Gwamanda faced allegations of business misconduct and poor service delivery, leading to his resignation in August 2024.\n\nDespite these setbacks, Mama commends party leader Ganief Hendricks for stabilizing Johannesburg's notoriously volatile coalition politics by providing leadership and vision to coalitions, emphasizing that Al Jama-ah's involvement has contributed to political stability. Hendricks has now selected Mama to represent the party in the upcoming municipal elections, praising his proven track record in community development and economic empowerment.\n\nBorn and raised in Soweto, Mama lost his father to an apartheid death squad commander and was raised by an individual involved in the liberation struggle and imprisoned on Robben Island. He has a background in politics, youth and community structures, and business interests, including construction and enterprise development. Mama has largely stepped away from his businesses to focus on his political campaign, stating that he is not a career politician and remains independent of any political affiliation.\n\nHis main argument is that Johannesburg needs to transition beyond restoring basic municipal services and start leveraging its vast resources to generate wealth and opportunities for residents. Mama aims to attract investment, streamline bureaucracy, and restructure municipal procurement to ensure smaller businesses can compete for work within their own communities. Some of his proposals include establishing special economic zones across Johannesburg's seven regions and enabling local contractors to handle maintenance instead of concentrating opportunities among larger companies.\n\nAdditionally, Mama seeks to expedite the distribution of title deeds to informal settlement residents, arguing that individuals should possess the security to improve their own homes even if the municipality cannot provide formal housing immediately. He intends to start his first 100 days by assessing the City's service delivery failures, launching a public dashboard identifying coalition agreements and the politicians responsible for various portfolios, and creating an app enabling residents to track municipal complaints, see the officials assigned to resolve them, and escalate unresolved matters.\n\nMama insists that the city's budget belongs to the citizens and not their political leaders, asserting that residents have become too accustomed to poor governance rather than demanding greater accountability. He criticizes the inner city, which he believes has been seized by criminal networks, migrants, and politically connected individuals who profit from the decline of buildings and municipal services. Mama alleges that powerful political figures are shielding the criminals from accountability and that the inner city's issues are closely tied to migration. However, his stance on immigration remains controversial, as he distances himself from anti-migrant movements while accusing them of disproportionately targeting poor and vulnerable Black Africans while leaving other migrant communities untouched.",
  "summary": "With Johannesburg’s coalition politics in flux, Ashley Mama pitches Al Jama-ah as a force for investment, local enterprise and accountable city government, with an especially tough stance on migrants.",
  "key_points": [
    "Al Jama-ah seeks third mayoral bid in Johannesburg, despite past political instability.",
    "Party leader Ashley Mama advocates for investment, entrepreneurship, and accountable governance.",
    "Mama pledges to improve service delivery, attract investment, and create special economic zones."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "SABC News",
        "title": "Next city of Joburg admin must honour newly signed SAMWU deal: GP gov",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/next-city-of-joburg-admin-must-honour-newly-signed-samwu-deal-gp-gov",
        "published": "2026-11-03T17:58:45.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}