Amad’s return to Joburg leadership causes alarm

Less than a year after former mayor of Johannesburg Thapelo Amad was ordered by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to apologise for glorifying Hamas in hate speech, he is back in the city’s executive leadership as member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for community development. To date, Amad has not apologised. 

The move has triggered alarm within the Jewish community and reignited concerns about accountability, hate speech, and the cost of coalition politics in South Africa’s economic hub. “This appointment sends a deeply troubling message to the residents of our city that violence and hate speech are acceptable, and that one need not comply with the findings and remedies of constitutional bodies,” said South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) National Director Wendy Kahn. 

The South African Zionist Federation described Amad’s appointment as incompatible with the responsibilities of his new role. “The appointment of Thapelo Amad as MMC for Community Development is a cruel irony and an insult to the people of Johannesburg,” said Rolene Marks, the organisation’s spokesperson. “A man whose political modus operandi has been to inflame tensions, divide communities, and traffic in hateful rhetoric is now being handed a portfolio meant to foster social cohesion.” 

For less than a month in 2024, Amad, a senior member of Al Jama-ah, was the mayor of Johannesburg. His elevation to the city’s highest political office back then triggered alarm within the Jewish community. Now, he is back to deal with community development. 

Within days of taking office, attention returned to the SAHRC ruling concerning Amad’s social media post made in October 2023, shortly after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. In the post, he appeared holding a firearm and wrote, “We stand with Hamas, Hamas stands with us, together we are Palestine and Palestine will be free. With our souls, with our blood, we will conquer Al-Aqsa.” 

The commission found that the statement amounted to the propagation of hatred and the incitement of violence. It ruled that the post exceeded the bounds of protected political expression and was particularly harmful given the context of an active armed conflict. The commission recommended that Amad issue a public apology. He hasn’t done so. 

His appointment this month has brought those concerns back into sharp focus, particularly for Jewish communal organisations who say the city is now repeating a mistake it has already made. 

Advocate Mark Oppenheimer said the significance of Amad’s return lay not only in the content of the commission’s ruling, but in Amad’s refusal to comply with it. “Thapelo Amad, the disgraced former mayor of Johannesburg, was found by the SAHRC to have engaged in unlawful speech,” Oppenheimer said. “The commission concluded that the statement amounted to the propagation of hatred and the incitement of violence.” 

Oppenheimer said Amad’s continued defiance of the ruling raised questions about the standards being applied to public office. “Despite this finding, Mr Amad has remained unapologetic,” he said. “His subsequent selection as a MMC therefore raises serious concerns.” 

The SAJBD said the appointment sent a disturbing message to Jewish residents of Johannesburg and the broader public. In a statement issued on 22 January, the organisation said it was “deeply concerned” by Amad’s return to executive office. 

“Amad was found to be in contravention of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act by the SAHRC,” the statement said. “Specifically, he was found guilty of hate speech for a social media post that the commission ruled amounted to incitement to violence and propagation of hatred beyond protected political expression.” 

The Board said it was “wholly unacceptable” for a person with such a record, who has refused to comply with the remedies issued by a Chapter 9 institution, to hold a leadership position within the Johannesburg City Council. It noted that the community development portfolio requires a demonstrated commitment to social cohesion, intercommunal respect, and the protection of all residents. 

Amad’s political profile has long been shaped by his outspoken positions on Israel and the Middle East. During and after his mayoralty, he was a visible supporter of initiatives that Jewish organisations said imported international conflict into local governance in ways that directly affected minority communities. 

One of the most prominent examples was the proposal to rename Sandton Drive after Leila Khaled, a figure associated with plane hijackings carried out on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Amad was among the leading political advocates for the renaming, framing it as a gesture of solidarity with Palestinians. Jewish organisations, opposition parties, and civil society groups warned that the proposal would legitimise political violence and deepen divisions in one of Johannesburg’s most economically significant areas. 

These controversies, combined with his SAHRC censure, shaped Jewish communal opposition to Amad’s mayoralty and continue to inform reactions to his return. For many, the concern is not symbolic but structural: that coalition politics are repeatedly overriding considerations of social cohesion and minority safety. 

Marks said Amad’s refusal to comply with the SAHRC ruling was central to the organisation’s objection. “He has refused to comply with the ruling, refused to apologise, and refused to take responsibility,” she said. “That defiance alone should disqualify him from any position of public leadership.” 

Oppenheimer said the implications extend beyond Amad himself. “It signals not only a tolerance for extremist rhetoric, but a willingness by the governing coalition to associate with Al Jama-ah,” he said. 

The SAJBD called for Amad to be removed from his leadership position until he complies with the remedies set out by the SAHRC.