Cape Town - Islamic party Al Jama-ah has thrown the embattled National Freedom Party (NFP) a lifeline to contest Wednesday’s municipal election.
It has offered that all NFP councillors retain their seats on their respective councils in KwaZulu-Natal in exchange for one or two seats for Al Jama-ah candidates in municipalities where the party is also contesting.
Al Jama-ah currently only has a single seat on the Cape Town metro held by its leader Ganief Hendricks and another on the Johannesburg city council.
Formed in 2007, the party which aims to support Muslim interests and uphold Shariah law, contested the 2009 and 2014 national elections and the 2011 municipal elections.
At the NFP’s request for talks, Hendricks spent four days in KwaZulu-Natal last week ironing out the details of a possible working arrangement.
The NFP’s Sizwe Themba confirmed on Sunday morning that the NFP would be discussing the Al Jama-ah offer at its working committee meeting later.
On Friday, the Electoral Court ruled against the NFP for a second time, that it could not participate in the municipal polls for failing to pay requisite deposits in time.
Hendricks stressed that if the NFP chose to work with Al Jama-ah, both parties would remain independent.
“There will be no coalition, no merger. This is a lifeline for the sake of South Africa’s democracy. We feel that it’s not right that half a million people might not vote for the party of their choice,” said Hendricks.
NFP councillors would be expected to uphold the principles of good moral values.
“We don’t want them to become Muslims or to fast or anything. They must just adhere to standard humanitarian values. If they mess up, it will be them. Not Al Jama-ah,” said Hendricks.
“These councillors will also implement NFP policies and values. The lifeline has no strings attached.”
Hendricks said the arrangement would be guided by a memorandum of agreement, a code of conduct and a disciplinary process.
If the two parties partnered, it could bolster Al Jama-ah’s chances of obtaining representation on councils such as Estcourt where the NFP holds 12 out of the 23 seats, Stanger, Umdoni, Pietermaritzburg and Durban.
“For Al Jama-ah, it is all about building goodwill between two strong communities in KZN - the Muslim community and the Zulu community and to strengthen the present levels of co-operation hot on the heels of Islam being recognised by the King as one of the religions in his Kingdom.”
Hendricks said his party would encourage Muslim entrepreneurs to invest in rural businesses to create jobs.
Elections Bureau