Agang leader plays the blame game

Agang's election campaign is failing to gain momentum and its leader, Mamphela Ramphele, blames everyone but herself for its shortcomings.

The pitfalls and challenges facing small political parties during election time played out for Ramphele in the southern Western Cape's small towns of George and Mossel Bay on Friday afternoon last week.

On her late arrival in George that afternoon, Ramphele's priority was to host a press conference and conduct a series of interviews with local radio stations instead of heading immediately for direct interaction with masses of potential voters.

Later, with a handful of party volunteers in tow, she drove 30km to nearby Mossel Bay, where she had secured the Tabernacle of Praise Church as a venue for a public meeting with the community of Asla Park, a small mixed settlement.

But the scheduled public gathering was quickly called off as it became clear that Asla Park's residents had ignored her.

Agang's hastily hatched plan B - to move the public meeting to a chisanyama (braai meat outlet) - was also a flop.

"We did not stay long there. There weren't a lot of people there either," said one of Ramphele's aides.

Party volunteers then took Ramphele to the Sewende Laan informal settlement, also to no avail.

Ramphele blamed the media for deliberately ignoring her efforts. She singled out the public broadcaster, saying it was on a mission to keep Agang out of the public spotlight.

"It's mainly the SABC. People there told us that they've been told not to cover us.

"With regard to the general media, I have to say I am disappointed in the way in which some of the media people operate. There are some that are fair and others that seem to repeat one thing until they believe it."

The medical doctor turned politician also turned her guns on political analysts.

She accused them of lacking "depth and complexity" after several of them ruled her out as a serious political contender in the elections following her doomed merger discussions with the Democratic Alliance.

The Agang leader also said it was disingenuous for anyone to dismiss her as a failure because of her bungled negotiations with the DA.

She cited her 45-year history of political and civil activism.

Ramphele said her party's chances in the upcoming elections had not been ruined. She insisted that Agang would take many by surprise after the May 7 general elections.

"There's no way you can say someone who has been active as a freedom fighter, a professional, an activist, everything, is suddenly a failure because of one failed partnership.

"It's crazy," said an emotional Ramphele.

But pollsters said Agang would be fortunate to gain more than 2% of the total votes next month.