[SA Jewish Report] With his assault rifle and Hamas flag, former Johannesburg mayor and Al Jama-ah city councillor Thapelo Amad would have blended right in with those of the terrorists that attacked, killed, maimed, raped, dismembered, beheaded, abducted, tortured, and burned alive hundreds of innocent civilians in the south of Israel on 7 October 2023.Proudly posing in a post on social media with an assault rifle and a flag with the Hamas logo on 21 November, Amad said, "We stand with Hamas, Hamas stands with us, together we are Palestin [sic] and Palestin [sic] will be free. With our souls, with our blood, we will conquer Al Aqsa." The post has since been deleted, but Amad later defended the post, saying, "I stand firm by my post. I will never deter in standing for what I believe in. People should not be told how to protest in South Africa. I have the right to protest. The protest was peaceful."
His post came just a few days after he told a local news outlet that he was setting his sights on becoming the next Gauteng premier, and that he would be the face of Al Jama-ah in the 2024 general elections.