DA, Ramphele 'rent a black' deal collapses

Cape Town - The deal between the DA and Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele is off.

The Democratic Alliance met with Ramphele on Sunday to finalise the terms of their agreement for her to stand as the DA's presidential candidate, which was to be the formalisation of last week Tuesday's announcement.

But Ramphele reneged on the agreement at the meeting, saying that she would no longer be the DA's presidential candidate.

The DA said that it is rare for a political party to offer the position of presidential canditate to a leader from another party, but believed that it would be in the best interest of South Africa.

Helen Zille said that the DA negotiated with Ramphele in good faith and that they had been through many false starts in the past, but after her acceptance of the offer, the DA had accepted that she had finally made up her mind.

"By going back on the deal, again, just five days after it was announced, Dr Ramphele has demonstrated – once and for all – that she can't be trusted to see any project through to its conclusion," Zille said in a statement.

She also said that Ramphele had been playing cat and mouse with the media, Agang supporters and the DA, telling each a different story.

"It is not clear what her objective is, but whatever it is, it is not in the interests of the South African people."

The DA has said that it will hold a media briefing on Monday morning in Johannesburg