It’s been 12 years in the making and now finally Al Jama-ah heads to the main seats of political power – Parliament and the Provincial Legislature.

The party, which has an Islamic ethos, has secured a seat in National and Provincial legislature during the 2019 elections with 32 000 votes nationally and 20 000 votes provincially.

The Al Jama-ah party said they are happy with their overall performance. The party’s votes have increased by 4000 votes since the 2014 elections.

For the first time, the National Assembly will have 13 parties which includes newcomers, Good, African Transformation Movement, and Al Jama-ah.

Al Jama-ah president Ganief Hendricks said they worked hard in difficult conditions to achieve recognition in this year’s election.

“We worked very hard in very difficult conditions and after 12 years we get to have a Muslim voice in parliament and national legislature. For many years the Muslim society has gone unnoticed and we are reassuring our community and the community at large that we will do out utmost best to cater for all needs in various communities,” he stated.

“We have been suffering for so long with no growth. Our children especially girls are raped and harassed with absolutely no hope for the future and for that very reason we have to do something to better the lives of generations to come,” he added.

Hendricks said he waited so long to get a seat in parliament to address issues that are often left unaddressed.

“We felt the need to go to the next level and fight for a seat in parliament to ensure inequality is addressed and everyone gets treated fairly,” he stressed.

The party’s provincial candidate Isgak De Jager said if they had enough funding and support, they could have had a better outcome.

” If you look at our resources, we had little to nothing to work with. We could not afford to market ourselves the way other parties did and that’s why not many organisations and prospective votes took us seriously,” he said.

Al Jama-ah has already started the ball rolling and are all set to claim their space in the South African political arena. They will soon be having meetings with their NWC and their NEC – as well as having a national Shura consultation and a national conference.

In the meantime, the party will implement existing mandates and party lists as confirmed in 2016 and 2019.

Hendricks said Al Jama-ah is committed to playing an active role in building a South Africa based on Ubuntu, justice, fairness and honesty.