Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad has courted controversy after wearing a Palestine scarf on his first day.
Image via Twitter
‘Fix potholes in Palestine?’: Tweeps react to Joburg mayor’s scarf
Fashion faux pas or bad timing? Tweeps are calling out Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad for a Palestine scarf he wore on his first day…
Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad has courted controversy after wearing a Palestine scarf on his first day.
Image via Twitter
Thapelo Amad – Johannesburg’s new metropolitan mayor – may have started on the wrong foot after his choice of wardrobe has social media users in a heated debate.
This week, Amad was sworn into office and took up post in the high-profile position. His appointment comes just days after former mayor Mpho Phalatse was ousted for the second time.
It also comes shortly after he revealed that “potholes” would be first on his mayoral agenda.
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JOBURG MAYOR THAPELO AMAD COURTS CONTROVERSY WITH PALESTINE SCARF
While Thapelo Amad has promised to turn the city of Joburg around for service delivery in his capacity as mayor – and fix potholes – social media users were already judging him harshly on his first day in office.
And for many, it had much to do with the proud Muslim mayor’s decision to wear a scarf in support of Palestine.
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Here’s what tweeps had to say:
@RenaldoGouws: “His first day in office, and he is already more concerned about Palestine than South Africa. Well done ANC/EFF/PA”
@LekkerInDieBos: “How the hell does a mayor get politically involved in another country’s affairs?”
@MJS5712: “Any association even a scarf indicates the priority of a person. The mayor of Johannesburg should concentrate on the problems facing us, which is a reality daily. Crime, sanitation, water, education”
@Goegab: “A major is supposed to serve the residents and not use the platform to push a foreign affairs agenda. SA’s politics is a mess.”
@ManCamera1: “How many potholes have you managed to fix? Or are you busy fixing potholes in Palestine?”
Others claimed that while Thapelo Amad’s decision to support Palestine was noble, it was ill-timed due to the sensitive nature of Johanessburg and South Africa’s own state of affairs.
One tweep shared: I am not against the message the mayor is sending; I have a problem with his timing. The politics in Palestine is important, but it’s not an urgent matter for South Africans. He was elected to facilitate the delivery of services in Johannesburg.”
PROUDLY MUSLIM
Meanwhile, Thapelo Amad has revealed that in addition to being a mayor, he is also an imam – an Islamic leader.
Here are a few other facts about him.
- Thapelo is Johannesburg’s first Muslim mayor.
- He has a degree in Islamic sciences.
- He is affiliated with the Islamist Al Jama-ah party, which “aims to support Muslim interests and uphold Shari’a law”
- Thapelo’s Islamic name is “Abubakr.”
- He has also tabled a motion to rename Sandton Drive after Palestinian woman activist Laila Khaled.
