Former Cape Town Mayor Endorses Agang SA for 2014 Elections

Johannesburg; 14 November 2013: Agang SA received a major vote of confidence ahead of the launch of its election campaign on Saturday, when by former Cape Town mayor Frank van der Velde declared he would be voting for the new party led by Mamphela Ramphele.

"After careful consideration, I have decided to lend my weight and vote to Agang in the coming election," the former mayor wrote in a letter to the Cape Times today.

"Mamphela Ramphele is the only leader who has the ability to bridge the polarised divide existing today. She is as much at home and acceptable to the people of Malamulele in Limpopo and Bekkersdal in Gauteng as she is to the residents of the leafy suburbs of Constantia and Sandton," Van der Velde wrote.

He said Ramphele, former rector of University of Cape Town and a businesswoman, was the only leader with a proven track record, capable of reversing the terrible wrongs in the country's education system.

"She is the only leader - herself a medical doctor - who has again the proven track record of running primary and secondary health care. The state of our public health system - lacking in management, severe shortage of doctors and nurses - is a matter of record," added Van Der Velde.

"What is not known to the public at large is the impressive team she has gathered around her: businessmen and women, academics, lawyers and planners. In the short time between launching and now, that team has produced policy documents, which get to the nub of the problems in the government and which offer workable, pragmatic solutions," he said."

"I believe above all that Mamphela Ramphele is a woman of unimpeachable integrity; an integrity severely lacking in the leadership in the government. She is the only leader to have declared her interests and published her assets," added Van der Velde.

Agang SA will be launching its national campaign and unveiling its campaign advisory board on Saturday.

Party leader Ramphele will speak at the launch at Atlas Studios before the campaign bus sets off on a tour, taking in events across Gauteng throughout the rest of the day.

The launch starts at 8.30 at Atlas Studios, 33 Frost Avenue, Milpark, Johannesburg. From there the entourage moves to Freedom Square in Eldorado, Soweto; Tshepisong on the West Rand and Diepsloot, north of Johanneburg

Statement issued by Agang SA, November 14 2013

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