Khume Ramulifho: DA youth leader jumps ship to join Rise Mzansi

Former Democratic Alliance (DA) youth leader and member of the Gauteng legislature Khume Ramulifho has jumped ship and joined new political party Rise Mzansi after 25 years as a DA member.

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Khume Ramulifho is the latest prominent member of the official opposition to jump ship following former DA Member of Parliament (MP), Nomsa Marchesi, who left the DA in August last year to become Rise Mzansi’s Free State convener. 

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KHUME RAMULIFHO’S DECISION TO LEAVE DA FOR RISE MZANSI ‘NOT EASY’

“This decision was not an easy one. I have built relationships with so many patriotic South Africans over the past 25 years,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Thus far I can proudly say I have given my best in serving the people of this country. My commitment to improve the lives of our people and build a prosperous country remains unchanged.”

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KHUME RAMULIFHO: FROM YOUTH ACTIVIST TO GAUTENG MEMBER OF LEGISLATURE

Ramulifho has had a long career in politics from his early days as a student activist in the Vaal, to being elected as a PR councillor in the City of Johannesburg in 2006 and three years later was elected to the provincial legislature.

“I served as student activist at the then Vaal Triangle Technikon, now called Vaal University of Technology. I had the honour of serving as the DA Youth regional chairperson, Gauteng provincial youth leader and federal youth leader.”

“I have played an active role in 10 elections contesting or campaigning for candidates at all spheres of government — local, provincial and national — many of which were successful.”

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THE BIRTH OF RISE MZANSI

Rise Mzansi is new a political party founded in April 2023 by Songezo Zibi, a former newspaper editor of Business Day.

The party’s campaign slogan for the 2024 general elections is “Our 1994” in reference to South Africa’s first democratic elections.

In April 2023, Rise Mzansi rejected calls to join the DA-initiated “moonshot pact” of opposition parties on the grounds that the pact was solely based on removing the ANC and keeping the EFF from national power. 

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RISE MZANSI: A ‘PEOPLE-CENTRED POLITICAL PARTY’

Before joining Rise Mzansi, Marchesi said that she had been searching for a political platform that would be more inclusive and representative of the diverse voices and concerns of the South African population.

Marchesi said she was joining the newly established Rise Mzansi which she described as “a new and vibrant people-centred political alternative that resonates deeply with my vision for the South Africa we deserve and my belief in its ability to truly engage with all sectors of South Africa”. 

“Ultimately, there are many South Africans who want to see unity in purpose, and I strongly believe Rise Mzansi is able to unite South Africans behind building the South Africa we all deserve, the kind of South Africa that the constitution says is our right to have and I will continue to fight for the people of South Africa,” said Ramulifho.