The Politics of Inclusion: Maphela Ramphele’s Election Stint and its Implications for Gender and Race in South Africa
by Riki Gross
Across the African continent, the increasing involvement of women in economic, political and cultural spheres has been a useful marker in measuring social and cultural progress within each country. In South Africa, women comprise forty-two percent of the legislature. By the end of last year there had been substantial hope in the possibility that a woman would win the presidency, with many potential women candidates having already been serving as leaders for their parties. South Africa’s lack of discourse about this important issue on a national, public level shows that their gender gap is not one that will soon close. Recently, Maphela Ramphele had accepted an invitation to serve as the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) presidential candidate for the upcoming 2014 presidential election in South Africa. Within a week, she had already stepped down from running in the election. While on the one hand this suggests that South Africa may not be ready for the imperative social change of women’s involvement in politics, it also illuminates certain aspects of contemporary race and class politics that still persist decades after apartheid ended in 1994.
Mamphela Ramphele has experienced enormous success in her career, and was listed as one of Forbes’ richest women in Africa in 2011. Her success as a businesswoman and as an anti-apartheid activist made her an appealing candidate in the upcoming election.(i) In the wake of Mandela’s death, a candidate who has a history of holding such strong democratic ideals and values is appealing to the young democracy. In January, when she announced she was running as the candidate for the DA (a historically white party), Ramphele seemed to represent many firsts: she would not only have been the first woman president, but she was also the first black candidate to be nominated by the Democratic Alliance.
Ramphele had intended to represent the DA despite having formed her own party Agang SA last year, which promised a voice to a black middle class voting constituency disenchanted with the corruption in the African National Congress (the predominantly black political party which has been in power since 1994).(ii) To the distress of the ANC, the DA and Asang SA had seemed to merge when Ramphele announced her candidacy with the DA.(iii) The merging of these two parties had appeared to be a huge step toward desegregating white and black politics in South Africa. Ramphele’s decision to run seemed to both confront the racial tensions that still prevail in the country, and also promised to open up more prominent political positions for women. The controversy surrounding the merge of the DA, historically white, and Asang SA, intended for a black constituency, illuminated the unspoken rule of South African politics since 1994: racial lines still inform political logic as much as party politics do.
Ramphele’s decision to run as a DA candidate seemed to be the first step in breaking down these racial tensions. Ramphele (an anti-apartheid activist) and her candidacy with the DA seemed to blur the lines of racial politics, decreasing the significanceof race as a category of distinction between political parties. The ANC, which until then had been predominantly a “black party,” could no longer have that as its sole claim. By decreasing the party’s importance as the voice of “black South Africans,” the corruption scandals in the ANC were evermore emphasized – as the one thing it had always had a monopoly on, its “blackness,” was now being undermined. Indeed, one of the largest issues in the platform of Agang SA was to expose the ANC’s high level of corruption.(iv) Ramphele’s opposition to the ANC demonstrated that racial distinctions were the least of what dictated her politics.
Yet even with increasing civilian disenchantment with ANC due to Jacob Zuma’s corruption scandal, Agang SA had gained little political ground and was having trouble with acquiring funding. In this light, Ramphele’s decision to run with the DA was both opportunistic and symbiotic. It would both give the DA the chance to attract a black constituency (with Ramphele, a black leader, as its figurehead), and would allow Ramphele and Agang SA access to more funding opportunities.(v) With “liberation” credentials and as a leader of the Black Consciousness movement, Mamphele was the perfect figurehead for the DA to appeal to co-opt black voters from the ruling ANC.(vi)
Yet such accusations of opportunism delegitimized her candidacy, and the platform of “good government” that had been the slogan for Agang SA(vii) seemed a remnant of the past. Ramphele’s candidacy with the DA was controversial not only because she was a black candidate in a historically white political party, but rather because it seemed she was now playing “dirty politics” – engaging in economically-motivated opportunism, the very thing she had always claimed she was against. Additionally, issues of her socioeconomic status presented an issue in her candidacy. While Ramphele travelled around the country speaking at universities against President Zuma’s lack of economic transparency and corruption, she herself is one of the richest women in the country, her worth estimated at more than $50 million.(viii)
With Ramphele’s abandonment of her DA candidacy, racialized politics in South Africa are as clear as ever. With the disintegration of the DA-Asang SA alliance, Ramphele stated: “Some cannot or will not transcend party politics. We see people still trapped in old-style, race based politics.”(ix) Her dropping out reflects her frustration that the DA could not be un-whitened, and portrays South
African politics as if it will never be de-racialized. Yet with all the talk about racial politics in South Africa and very little talk about its gender politics, it seems that the fight for women’s inclusion is a discussion that has just been skipped over. Is it that women’s involvement in South African politics has been completely normalized, not necessitating any discussion about gender in politics?
True, women prove imperative in transforming marginalized social and political systems. Regarding the political restructuring in Rwanda after the genocide, Dr. Agnes Matilda Kalibata explains, “Bringing women out of the home and fields has been essential to our rebuilding...We are becoming a nation that understands that there are huge financial benefits to equality.”(x) Quotas have been created in many countries to ensure that women are being represented on a larger scale, particularly in government institutions, but even with these quotas in place many African governments are not adhering to them.(xi) On one level, South Africa’s oversight to include more women in government seems to have handicapped its progress.
Yet on another level, if we limit our analysis of political progress to “the number of women we can count,” we prevent a fuller understanding of the way the politics of inclusion actually works. The simple request for “More Women Please” reduces the complexity of South Africa’s political system and what it can sustain. Mamphela Ramphele’s election stint not only refects a “lack of women” in government – which is certainly a viable claim but does not cover the whole story – but also speaks to the evolution (and lack thereof) of racialized politics and class politics in South Africa, two decades after apartheid had supposedly ended. Her election stint did not coalesce to “fulfill the promises of 1994” as she had declared in January,(xii)but rather seemed to be destabilizing those very promises. South Africa will not de-racialize its politics overnight, but façades like Ramphele’s election stint – which appear to promise change without any substance – seem to only hinder the progress.
i. Gundan Farai. “One of South Africa’s Richest Women, Dr. Maphela Ramphele Announces Run for President,” Forbes Magazine. January 29, 201 <forbes.com>
ii. “Women Are Winning,” Te Economist.
iii. Gundan, “One of South Africa’s Richest Women, Dr. Maphela Ramphele Announces Run for President.”
iv. Campbell, John. “New South African Opposition Party Focuses on African National Congress’ Corruption.” Council on Foreign Relations. October 24,2013. <cfr.org>
v. Dolan, David. “South African black leader scraps week-old electoral pact.” Reuters. February 3, 2014. <reuters.com>
vi. Campbell, John. “Fits and Starts in South Africa’s Journey Toward Non-Racial Democracy.” Council on Foreign Relations. February 4, 2014. <cfr.org>
vii. Campbell. “New South African Opposition Party Focuses on African National Congress’ Corruption.”
viii. Gundan. “One of South Africa’s Richest Women, Dr. Maphela Ramphele Announces Run for President.”
ix. Campbell. “Fits and Starts in South Africa’s Journey Toward Non-Racial Democracy.”
x. Adewunmi, Bim. “Women in African Politics: A Vote of Confdence,” Te Guardian. September 9, 2013. <theguardian.com>
xi. Ibid.
xii. “DA welcome Ramphele as its presidential candidate.” South African Broadcasting Company. January 28, 2014. <sabc.co.za>
by Riki Gross
Across the African continent, the increasing involvement of women in economic, political and cultural spheres has been a useful marker in measuring social and cultural progress within each country. In South Africa, women comprise forty-two percent of the legislature. By the end of last year there had been substantial hope in the possibility that a woman would win the presidency, with many potential women candidates having already been serving as leaders for their parties. South Africa’s lack of discourse about this important issue on a national, public level shows that their gender gap is not one that will soon close. Recently, Maphela Ramphele had accepted an invitation to serve as the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) presidential candidate for the upcoming 2014 presidential election in South Africa. Within a week, she had already stepped down from running in the election. While on the one hand this suggests that South Africa may not be ready for the imperative social change of women’s involvement in politics, it also illuminates certain aspects of contemporary race and class politics that still persist decades after apartheid ended in 1994.
Mamphela Ramphele has experienced enormous success in her career, and was listed as one of Forbes’ richest women in Africa in 2011. Her success as a businesswoman and as an anti-apartheid activist made her an appealing candidate in the upcoming election.(i) In the wake of Mandela’s death, a candidate who has a history of holding such strong democratic ideals and values is appealing to the young democracy. In January, when she announced she was running as the candidate for the DA (a historically white party), Ramphele seemed to represent many firsts: she would not only have been the first woman president, but she was also the first black candidate to be nominated by the Democratic Alliance.
Ramphele had intended to represent the DA despite having formed her own party Agang SA last year, which promised a voice to a black middle class voting constituency disenchanted with the corruption in the African National Congress (the predominantly black political party which has been in power since 1994).(ii) To the distress of the ANC, the DA and Asang SA had seemed to merge when Ramphele announced her candidacy with the DA.(iii) The merging of these two parties had appeared to be a huge step toward desegregating white and black politics in South Africa. Ramphele’s decision to run seemed to both confront the racial tensions that still prevail in the country, and also promised to open up more prominent political positions for women. The controversy surrounding the merge of the DA, historically white, and Asang SA, intended for a black constituency, illuminated the unspoken rule of South African politics since 1994: racial lines still inform political logic as much as party politics do.
Ramphele’s decision to run as a DA candidate seemed to be the first step in breaking down these racial tensions. Ramphele (an anti-apartheid activist) and her candidacy with the DA seemed to blur the lines of racial politics, decreasing the significanceof race as a category of distinction between political parties. The ANC, which until then had been predominantly a “black party,” could no longer have that as its sole claim. By decreasing the party’s importance as the voice of “black South Africans,” the corruption scandals in the ANC were evermore emphasized – as the one thing it had always had a monopoly on, its “blackness,” was now being undermined. Indeed, one of the largest issues in the platform of Agang SA was to expose the ANC’s high level of corruption.(iv) Ramphele’s opposition to the ANC demonstrated that racial distinctions were the least of what dictated her politics.
Yet even with increasing civilian disenchantment with ANC due to Jacob Zuma’s corruption scandal, Agang SA had gained little political ground and was having trouble with acquiring funding. In this light, Ramphele’s decision to run with the DA was both opportunistic and symbiotic. It would both give the DA the chance to attract a black constituency (with Ramphele, a black leader, as its figurehead), and would allow Ramphele and Agang SA access to more funding opportunities.(v) With “liberation” credentials and as a leader of the Black Consciousness movement, Mamphele was the perfect figurehead for the DA to appeal to co-opt black voters from the ruling ANC.(vi)
Yet such accusations of opportunism delegitimized her candidacy, and the platform of “good government” that had been the slogan for Agang SA(vii) seemed a remnant of the past. Ramphele’s candidacy with the DA was controversial not only because she was a black candidate in a historically white political party, but rather because it seemed she was now playing “dirty politics” – engaging in economically-motivated opportunism, the very thing she had always claimed she was against. Additionally, issues of her socioeconomic status presented an issue in her candidacy. While Ramphele travelled around the country speaking at universities against President Zuma’s lack of economic transparency and corruption, she herself is one of the richest women in the country, her worth estimated at more than $50 million.(viii)
With Ramphele’s abandonment of her DA candidacy, racialized politics in South Africa are as clear as ever. With the disintegration of the DA-Asang SA alliance, Ramphele stated: “Some cannot or will not transcend party politics. We see people still trapped in old-style, race based politics.”(ix) Her dropping out reflects her frustration that the DA could not be un-whitened, and portrays South
African politics as if it will never be de-racialized. Yet with all the talk about racial politics in South Africa and very little talk about its gender politics, it seems that the fight for women’s inclusion is a discussion that has just been skipped over. Is it that women’s involvement in South African politics has been completely normalized, not necessitating any discussion about gender in politics?
True, women prove imperative in transforming marginalized social and political systems. Regarding the political restructuring in Rwanda after the genocide, Dr. Agnes Matilda Kalibata explains, “Bringing women out of the home and fields has been essential to our rebuilding...We are becoming a nation that understands that there are huge financial benefits to equality.”(x) Quotas have been created in many countries to ensure that women are being represented on a larger scale, particularly in government institutions, but even with these quotas in place many African governments are not adhering to them.(xi) On one level, South Africa’s oversight to include more women in government seems to have handicapped its progress.
Yet on another level, if we limit our analysis of political progress to “the number of women we can count,” we prevent a fuller understanding of the way the politics of inclusion actually works. The simple request for “More Women Please” reduces the complexity of South Africa’s political system and what it can sustain. Mamphela Ramphele’s election stint not only refects a “lack of women” in government – which is certainly a viable claim but does not cover the whole story – but also speaks to the evolution (and lack thereof) of racialized politics and class politics in South Africa, two decades after apartheid had supposedly ended. Her election stint did not coalesce to “fulfill the promises of 1994” as she had declared in January,(xii)but rather seemed to be destabilizing those very promises. South Africa will not de-racialize its politics overnight, but façades like Ramphele’s election stint – which appear to promise change without any substance – seem to only hinder the progress.
i. Gundan Farai. “One of South Africa’s Richest Women, Dr. Maphela Ramphele Announces Run for President,” Forbes Magazine. January 29, 201 <forbes.com>
ii. “Women Are Winning,” Te Economist.
iii. Gundan, “One of South Africa’s Richest Women, Dr. Maphela Ramphele Announces Run for President.”
iv. Campbell, John. “New South African Opposition Party Focuses on African National Congress’ Corruption.” Council on Foreign Relations. October 24,2013. <cfr.org>
v. Dolan, David. “South African black leader scraps week-old electoral pact.” Reuters. February 3, 2014. <reuters.com>
vi. Campbell, John. “Fits and Starts in South Africa’s Journey Toward Non-Racial Democracy.” Council on Foreign Relations. February 4, 2014. <cfr.org>
vii. Campbell. “New South African Opposition Party Focuses on African National Congress’ Corruption.”
viii. Gundan. “One of South Africa’s Richest Women, Dr. Maphela Ramphele Announces Run for President.”
ix. Campbell. “Fits and Starts in South Africa’s Journey Toward Non-Racial Democracy.”
x. Adewunmi, Bim. “Women in African Politics: A Vote of Confdence,” Te Guardian. September 9, 2013. <theguardian.com>
xi. Ibid.
xii. “DA welcome Ramphele as its presidential candidate.” South African Broadcasting Company. January 28, 2014. <sabc.co.za>
