/ 11 March 2015

Six things you need to know if you still care about Agang

Agang has just two members of Parliament
Agang has just two members of Parliament

It is difficult to keep track of what’s going on in Agang SA. Really. After founder Mamphela Ramaphele married the party to the Democratic Alliance and divorced it in less than a week, things weren’t exactly rainbows and sunshine for Agang.

The party won a mere 52 350 votes in last year’s election – and then its leader went AWOL in the face of huge debt and internal party problems.

With just two members of Parliament, it is difficult to imagine how there is more drama in Agang than there is in an entire season of Isidingo.

But if you are still scratching your head about whether or not Agang is a political party, here are six things you need to know about what’s going down in the party:

1) On Wednesday this week, Agang acting president Mike Tshishonga held a press conference to communicate how “gatvol” he and others within the party are with deputy president Andries Tlouamma. Simply put: the faction loyal to Tshishonga accuses Tlouamma of being “self-serving”, “erratic” and a “money-laundering demagogue”. Oh, and an “embarrassment” to the party. But why?

2) Tlouamma tabled a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. He then appealed to the courts to have the speaker recuse herself from the debate. He failed. And then when MPs filled the National Assembly chambers to debate the ill-fated motion, Tlouamma asked Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete to recuse herself from the debate. In true Mbete style, she flatly refused. And then Tlouamma simply withdrew the motion. Just. Like. That.

3) Now the other faction of the party has moved to expel him. And remove him as a member of Parliament. And make him #PayBackTheMoney.

4) But Tlouamma had already moved to expel Tshishonga earlier this year. You can’t make this stuff up.

5) It is all chaotic. The party needs to hold a policy conference … build branches and then hold a national conference. At the moment it has no head office. No constituency offices. No money.

6) In the meantime, according to City PressRamphele is living it up in Cape Town as the party she founded implodes.