Welcoming Dr Mamphela Ramphele as the DA's Presidential Candidate

Note to Editors: This press statement by Helen Zille, Leader of the DA was distributed at a press conference in Cape Town today.

It is with great pleasure and excitement that I can announce that Dr Mamphela Ramphele has accepted the DA's invitation to stand as our presidential candidate in the 2014 General Election.  

I can announce further that we are establishing a joint technical committee to manage the integration of the DA and Agang SA structures and volunteers. 

This is a game-changing moment for South Africa. When I was elected Leader of the Democratic Alliance in 2007, I set out the case for a fundamental realignment of our politics. 

I said then that political change will come about as the old political formations become obsolete. We can see this happening now. As the ANC breaks into its constituent parts, we are building a new political vehicle to bring about the South Africa we dared to dream of in 1994.

The DA leadership is drawn from across the political spectrum. Some of us come from the liberal tradition that opposed apartheid. Others were previously members of the ANC. Some were part of the Pan-Africanist movement. And others have a Black Consciousness background.

But we all share the same values. The belief in an open, opportunity society for all characterized by non-racialism, a market economy, human rights and prosperity for every South African.

I have known Mamphela since the early 1980s when we worked together on the second Carnegie Enquiry into Poverty and Development. I worked as her Director of Communications when she was Vice-Chancellor of UCT, and we raised children together. And, as most people know, we have been in talks for some time about joining political forces. 

I know Mamphela as a principled, fiercely determined person who loves her country deeply and devotes her life to the cause of making democracy work. I can think of no better person to be our presidential candidate as we head into the most contested election of our democratic dispensation.

Statement issued by Helen Zille, DA leader, January 28 2014

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter