In conversation with Thapelo Amad: ‘I sacrificed myself to save Joburg’

F ormer Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad says one of his greatest achievements was to be a sacrificial lamb to ensure the City of Joburg was not returned to the control of the Democratic Alliance (DA).

“Being a leader, you don’t lead based on the position, you can still lead in the absence of the position,” he says.

“I saw the coalition might collapse so had to sacrifice myself. If I had to ask what it is I did for the city, my resignation is sufficient.

“We worked so hard to remove the DA and I had to be bigger than the position.

“There was never a time where you could hear of my failures except for the criticism that I was a puppet mayor. I have never heard any media house saying I have failed on this or that, but I speak under correction. The critics were from the media but, personally, I know I fulfilled my duties. My term was unfortunately for three months.”

Amad served as an Economic Freedom Fighters ward 10 branch chair before joining Al Jama-ah, which took him to the Johannesburg council.

READ: Thapelo Amad says he’s ready for mayorship, not just an ANC, EFF sock puppet

His time in council saw him serve as an MMC for development planning under three mayors, who included Geoff Makhubo, Jolidee Matongo and Mpho Moerane.

Asked whether it was too early for him to raise his hand for the mayoral position, he says before he became a mayor, his growth in politics and in leadership was organic.

“I started as an ordinary councillor. I was also a member of various portfolio communities in the city council. I then became a chair for an oversight committee on governance,” he says.

“From there I became an MMC and I did exceptionally well. I served under three mayors and I remained an MMC, I was the only one who was never reshuffled because of the job that was recognised.”

He says when he became an MMC, he pushed for a mega project to which President Cyril Ramaphosa committed R70 billion for the Lanseria mega smart city project.

“I ensured that the concept document saw the light of the day by making sure the council approved it. So me being the mayor was an expected process,” he says.

Known as a three-month mayor, Amad was born in Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in 1982, and grew up in Protea South, Soweto.

“I grew up in a very diverse community where you would find affluent, middle-class and below-the-poverty line people. I grew up in an Islamic family,” Amad said.

READ: Thapelo Amad’s appointment as new mayor of Joburg ‘tests democracy’

Growing up in Soweto as a black Muslim was quite difficult and the conditions were harsher, he said.

“When you are a black Muslim you are perceived to be an outcast by black Africans and when you are among the Indians, you are still an outcast,” he says.

Amad was the third child in a family of six children. He says his father was an entrepreneur on a small scale and his mother used to sell refreshments such as amakipkip (sweet, colourful popcorn) for the family to survive.

“I remember she used to go to Kliptown or Lenasia by train to buy stock because that’s how we survived,” he says.

Amad started school at Chiawelo Primary and later went to Mapetla High. He says being a Muslim at school was still foreign to many at the time.

“It was quite challenging, I was always perceived as a foreigner. You’d be attacked.

“There would be a hate crime against you that you’ve lost culture, so those were stereotypical hate attacks I’d get at the time,” he says.

He also remembers what it used to be like for him at school during assembly when they had to pray as most of the pupils were Christians.

“Unfortunately at the assembly, there was nothing I could have done. I didn’t grow [up] in an era where rights were won on the sleeves.

“So I would do whatever they did but would still preserve my faith,” he says.

“In high school, we never had an assembly but what they did at the time was have churches come to our school during break time. But I never attended those services.”

After completing his matric, Amad pursued his Islamic studies, where he majored in Arabic at Newcastle College.

“So I’m a theologian,” he says with a smile.

The humble and soft-spoken Amad says when he is not caught up in council matters or his activism in the community, he enjoys spending time with his four children and wife.

His youngest child is three months old. He also goes out and hangs around with his close friends.

“When I resigned as mayor, I was blessed with a baby and I named him Qawe (hero) because he is symbolic to me,” he says.

“I basically live a normal life except for the part that I have never drank alcohol in my life. But I am able to sit around with people who drink because I do not discriminate.”