/ 4 February 2014

No donor pressure in DA-Agang merger, insists Maimane

Democratic Alliance spokesperson Mmusi Maimane.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson Mmusi Maimane.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) denied a report on Tuesday that a powerful donor was behind the merger talks between the DA and Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele.

"There can be no donor that can force us to make such a decision," opposition spokesperson Mmusi Maimane said. "There never has been and there never will be."

Maimane was reacting to a report in the New Age that a mystery international donor was key to talks between DA leader Helen Zille and Ramphele. The newspaper quotes Ramphele as saying: "A donor pushed the DA and Agang SA together."

However, on Tuesday morning Zille tweeted that there was donor pressure on Agang SA.

Agang SA spokesperson Mark Peach could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last Tuesday, the DA announced Ramphele would be its presidential candidate for upcoming elections. But confusion arose on Friday when Ramphele said she never agreed to become a member of the DA. On Sunday evening, the DA said Ramphele had backtracked on their agreement.

Maimane said he could not reveal the identity of any of their donors, adding that the allegations were "far-fetched". – Sapa