A political battle is in the air in South
Africa as the 2014 presidential election gets closer. A new party was
officially launched Saturday named Agang, which means "to build" in the
Sotho language. The party plans to challenge Nelson Mandela's historical
party, the African National Congress or ANC.
She steps on the stage with her arm raised and her fist clenched
above her head. Mamphela Ramphele, the leader of Agang, wants to make it
clear : she is here to start the political fight against the ANC, which
has been ruling South Africa since 1994 and the end of apartheid.
According to Ramphele, who is an academic and a former partner of
anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, the ANC hasn't done enough to
transform the country and the life of South Africans.
"I say that 20 years is too long to wait for jobs. 20 years is too
long to wait for quality education. This is not the legacy our great
leaders had in mind. This is not the country dreamed of by of our
beloved Madiba ((Mandela)), by Steve Biko or Lillian Ngoyi," Ramphele
said.
Ramphele articulates her program around reducing poverty, improving
the education system, and also tackles corruption which, she says, has
been one of the main causes of the dysfunction in the country.
"Corruption and a culture of impunity have spread throughout
government and society stealing textbooks from classrooms, stealing
drugs from those living with HIV and stealing thousands of jobs and
billions of rands of investment," Ramphele said.
A few hundred people, mostly young, attended the party launch event
Saturday. Some of them were brought by bus from the neigboring province,
where Ramphele is from. She announced her intention to create her own
political party only four months ago and many Agang supporters are
disaffected ANC voters, like Coleen Loyd.
"At the moment, they (the ANC) are not satisfying our youth. We are here for our youth," Lloyd said.
Despite recent scandals, the ANC remains very popular among South
Africans, largely due to the role it played to end the white minority
rule known as apartheid, back in the early 1990s. The party has been
ruling the country ever since, winning each election.
Patrick Mphaphuli says he does not expect Agang to beat the ANC, but
he hopes that the new competition can shake the ANC and force them to do
change.
"What I'm looking for is just to reduce the number for the ANC. And I
think reducing the number will make these guys wake up to think that
maybe, we must start taking the people serious," Mphaphuli said.
The party certainly has a long way to go to beat the ANC, but
Ramphele can already count on the support of South African Nobel peace
laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who praised Ramphele for entering the
South African political arena and challenging the ruling party.
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