Ramphele Speaks Out on broken AgangSA / DA Deal

Agang SA today confirmed that the DA/Agang deal is off and that Agang SA will be contesting the 2014 elections as an independent party in South Africa, with Dr Mamphela Ramphele as its Presidential Candidate.

Dr Ramphele said “even as we declare our withdrawal from talks with the Democratic Alliance, we remain committed to working together for change with anyone who wishes to put the country ahead of narrow interests. Then we will topple this government which has forgotten that it should serves the interests of the people of this country; not their own.”

Dr Ramphele said that in an urgency to “present a government-in-waiting” to South Africans “who are suffering under this government’s corruption”, both AgangSA and the DA  had “rushed” into the agreement.

She said that contrary to accusations and character attacks, she has not changed, and AgangSA will not get caught in a she said he said type of situation. She pointed out that statements appearing in the media “are detracting from this rare opportunity for a national conversation about how to build something new for the South African people.”

In a statement addressed to the media and the “people of South Africa” Mamphela Ramphele said:

• “The opportunity we saw, in announcing the partnership with Agang SA and the DA, has fallen victim to party politics.” She said “Some cannot or will not transcend party politics. The time for this was not right. We see people trapped in old style race based politics.”
• She also alluded to pressure from her supporters to pull out of the deal, saying that since the announcement “we have all been reminded that you have to listen to your members. Members within both parties have shown unhappiness at the announcement.”
• She conceded that both parties had rushed into the agreement and insisted that opposition parties can still work together after the elections.
• Ramphele said she was “very sorry for the unhappiness and distraction this has caused” but insisted “we have made the right decision”.
• She explained “there are millions of South Africans who will never vote for the DA, but they want a home, which Agang SA will give them.” She said while the DA remains an important party, their “joint mistake” was to “hope that what so many people distrusted would magically disappear. We were wrong.”
• “The real issue we should be focusing on is the ANC’s performance.” She said “enough is enough. It is time for a government that serves, and does not ‘rule’. “

Her explanation for the deal falling apart are that “it was always my understanding that the Democratic Alliance and Agang SA would jointly appoint a technical committee to deal with a range of issues including party membership, and how the two organisations would ultimately work together, and that it would report back to outline the way ahead so that the strengths of both parties could be maximized and leveraged.

“In the past week though, a constant stream of announcements that pre-empted the work of the committee began to appear in the media and quickly, the matter of my membership of the `Democratic Alliance became divisive and the focal point of media coverage. This detracted from the vision we shared, where South Africans would be presented with a formation that transcended political parties and instead provided them with a new vision of how to break the mould of race-based politics that advantage only the African National Congress.”

She said: “We are certain that the committee would have been able to harness our famous national ability to overcome any problems put before us and that it would have been perfectly able to resolve all the technical matters that arise from the announcement. Sadly, the committee was never given the opportunity to do its work. We must also accept that there are members of both parties who were unhappy at the announcement.”