#TBT: The Zille and Ramphele ‘kiss of death’ we blamed for Agang’s demise

The Citizen’s online readers this afternoon came out in their full sarcastic glory in reaction to the news that Dr Makhosi Khoza may not be an MP, but still plans to return to parliament in a slightly different capacity to that of an MP.

“I [would] miss those perks too,” Imelda Mosaka quipped.

Mdladla Siya responded: “😂😂😂😂😂 I give up!”

@iKingVele_le simply asked: “What is this nonsense? She must simply go join Agang or something.”

The Star reported Khoza planned to announce towards the end of the month her plans to return to parliament, this time to hold MPs accountable with the help of civil society organisations.

In the spirit of Throwback Thursday, we take a cue from Twitter user @iKingVele_le, and walk you down the memory lane to the beginning of 2014.

It was just before the national elections scheduled for May when a new political mover-and-shaker almost swept voters off their feet before it could even be registered.

READ MORE: Mamphele to stand as DA presidential candidate

But let us not get ahead of ourselves now. Former UCT vice-chancellor and former World Bank executive Dr Mamphela Ramphele never really said she was going to form a political party. She introduced the concept of “a political platform” to our unrefined political palates. Many of us spent days scratching our heads trying to decipher her elusive phrasing.

After spirited denials by Ramphele that she would join forces with the DA to fight their common foe, the ANC, in the elections, the leader of the ”platform” that had now metamorphosed into a party called Agang convened a press briefing with then DA leader Helen Zille to make an (un)expected announcement.

At this media briefing, which had the trappings of a hastily arranged affair, Ramphele took political expediency to new levels and announced she had agreed to merge with the DA.

Hold up, because if memory serves you well, you’ll remember she wasn’t even done with voters. She also proudly regaled the media about also being the DA’s “presidential candidate”. What a press briefing!

The pandemonium that followed, including the quickest political divorce ever seen in this country, was best summed up by political journalist Max Du Preez in an article he wrote for the Independent Media on the matter.

“‘That Kiss’ was almost certainly Mamphele Ramphele’s kiss of death. Her only hope of playing a significant political role was to be the leader who would rearrange opposition politics after the elections, something many South Africans were willing her to do,” Du Preez wrote.

In the days that followed, the interwebs memed and parodied the kiss to death.

Suffering from what the Twitterverse called ‘the fear of missing out (fomo)’, ANC ministers and NEC members Dr Blade Nzimande and Lindiwe Sisulu showed the younger generation that abanavalo (they have no fear) on the sidelines of the Cabinet Lekgotla with the image below, courtesy of @Bhintsintsi.

http://https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/mamphela-ramphele-leaves-party-politics/

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