Steve Bikos Ex Forms New Party in South Africa As Anti-Apartheid Leader (647 hits)
Published: February 18, 2013
JOHANNESBURG — Mamphela Ramphele, a respected veteran of the struggle against apartheid, announced on Monday that she had formed a new political party to compete against the governing African National Congress, calling on South Africans to “join me on a journey to build the country of our dreams.”
The party is called Agang, a Sotho word meaning “build.” In recent years, Dr. Ramphele, 65, a medical doctor who became an anti-apartheid activist and a leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, has focused on social activism and business. Until last week, she served as the chairwoman of Gold Fields, a major mining company.
The new party is the latest in a string of challengers to the dominance of the A.N.C., which has handily won every national election since apartheid ended in 1994 but has come under increasing scrutiny over charges of corruption and poor governance. In addition, inequality has grown in South Africa since the end of apartheid, despite the party’s pledge to bring “a better life for all.” The country’s education system is a shambles.
Dr. Ramphele has been a fixture in South African public life for decades. She had a close relationship with the Black Consciousness activist Steve Biko, who died in police custody in 1977, having two children with him. The apartheid government banished her for seven years to the village of Lenyenye, in a bleak northern corner of the country, for her political activism. Undeterred, she started a small clinic that treated thousands of rural residents. She also earned degrees in anthropology and business.
When apartheid ended, she was named vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town, the first black person to hold the post. She later became a managing director of the World Bank, and in recent years she has been sought after as a corporate board member.
Though her career has given her sterling international credentials, it remains to be seen whether she can muster a mass following in a country where populist appeal has proved essential to political success. Asked about the size of her team, she responded that “we are an energetic team of five.” Hobnobbing with corporate titans and global leaders has left Dr. Ramphele open to charges of elitism, some say.
Jen you would think this would have and end, but it never does. Fights for equality are often ones with rounds of renewal over and over again. The challenge must always be presented to correct hearts of men to love.
Tuesday, February 19th 2013 at 6:27PM
MIISRAEL Bride
@Miisrael,
South Afrikan Backs ave many of the same sort of issues as we Black folk in America. It's a mental slavery that holds them and many of us back. We can't let go of what's been done to our ancestors.
It's sad.
Tuesday, February 19th 2013 at 8:30PM
Jen Fad
