Lauded by retired archbishop Desmond Tutu as a “brave and principled leader,” Dr. Mamphela Ramphele hopes to be South Africa‘s first female president.
The medical doctor, anti-apartheid activist and former head of the World Bank recently launched Agang SA, a political party that will contest in next year’s general election. Given the ruling African National Congress (ANC)’s strong, loyal base, many have received Dr. Mamphela Ramphele’s new party with apprehension. However, in a country where 72 percent of the unemployed are younger than 34 years old, it’s the youth vote that will likely to be critical in next year’s polls. And Dr. Ramphele is, by no means, oblivious to this fact having hired the same strategy team that secured U.S. President Barack Obama‘s victory in 2008.
Dr. Mamphela Aletta Ramphele MD, born in the Northern Transvaal region of South Africa, is a medical doctor and lifelong community activist, as a student, anti-apartheid leader, community health practitioner and a reformist political leader. Following the 1976 Soweto uprising, she was detained without trial for five months and subsequently served with an apartheid banning order.
Africa.com CEO and Executive Editor Teresa Clarke sat down with Mamphela Ramphele, to talk about her rural upbringing, hopes for her native country and how she finds inner peace.