Durban - The DA’s parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, told The Mercury on Wednesday that the saga between her party and AgangSA leader Mamphela Ramphele had left the DA disappointed rather than embarrassed.
Speaking at the launch in Durban of her biography, written by journalist Donwald Pressly, Mazibuko said the drama had left her frustrated.
“It is said a week is very long in politics, and indeed last week was the longest week,” she said.
However, the DA’s reputation had not been tainted by Ramphele’s reneging on an agreement that she would be the DA’s presidential candidate in the elections later this year.
“I think this is not going to do any good for her (Ramphele’s) party. It is going to hurt her ahead of elections.”
Mazibuko said Ramphele was the one who had approached the DA with the idea of merging the two parties before the elections.
“She said the death of Nelson Mandela had given her an idea to unite the parties so we could contest the elections together. I supported the idea because Ramphele is an experienced businesswoman and an academic with a Struggle history. Her idea made sense because she was going to go head to head with the ANC,” said Mazibuko.
Her party was putting the saga behind it to focus on campaigning for the elections.
The DA was not short of black members capable of standing as presidential candidates, she added.
Mazibuko said the DA’s federal executive would meet on February 15 to appoint its presidential candidate. She declined to name those in the running or say whether she was interested in the position.
The Mercury