[Mamphela] Ramphela's new political party reminds me of 2008 when we were introduced to COPE, a political party formed by formed by former ANC members.

With the disgruntled Mosiuoa Lekota, Mbhazima Shilowa and Mluleki George forming this party we all thought it would be a threat to the ANC. The optimism about Agang's future and how it will “save” South Africans from ANC is not too different by how some of us welcomed COPE.

We all thought COPE had an advantage. It was more that an addition to over 45 South African political parties that stand for elections, it was an ANC brake away party. After Pumzile Mlambo Ngcuka publicly joined COPE, people though Mbeki did too. Leading people to believe that COPE is strong and can stand as the official opposition in parliament.

However, COPE did not even come close to being a threat to ANC. In the 2009 National Election it managed to gather 7.4% votes behind the DA which gathered 16.7% and ANC leading with 65.9%. These percentages translate to 2 million Votes for COPE and 11 million for the ANC. In simply terms South Africans couldn't COPE. The only threat she will be is to the Democratic Alliance which has been working hard to gather “black votes”.

In a press statement Ramphele said she is starting this political party to provide South Africans with a platform to ”rekindle their hope that building the country of our dreams is possible in our lifetime.” Like when COPE was formed, many are already inspired by Ramphele's poetic statements. But we are used to these rhetorics from the DA, COPE, IFP or any other political party that wants to oppose the ANC.

One does not dispute the fact that we have developmental challenges in our country but they will not be solved by forming political parties. We already have too many of them. Some, we dont even know they exist. Some of them make a lot of noise and use cheap tactics to score political points. Do we really need more noise?.

Ramphele is an unapologetic neo-liberal skhotane who will not offer better alternative to the ANC.

Her tactics are not too different from that of the DA. And her close ties and shared ideologies with the mining capitals disqualifies her as a better choice. She will now join the movement along Helen Zille to protect profits of the big business and further exploit workers in a free market environment backed by the World Bank she once served.

How can we as poor South Africans trust a person who was chairperson of a Gold Fields and Chairperson of the World Bank. The War she now declares on the ANC is the kind of war we would have loved her to declare on the companies like Gold Fields and and international organizations like World bank which serves as classic examples of the “exclusionary economic and political system”  she now condemns.

Some of the already disillusioned South Africans have already called her Speech the SONA we should have had. However, I viewed it as a classic speech that falls in the same category as ANC's Thabo Mbeki “I am an African” poem. The speech offered no solution to inequality, unemployment and poverty. It was simply a poem. 

she also to declares “war on corruption” and she seems determined to win. If only things were that easy I would give away my vote right away. it's not the ANC banner that is corrupt; its the “people” within the organization itself.  The ANC does not have a school of “corruption’’ where people go and learn how to be corrupt officials.

Each and every political party has its fair share of corruption and Agang will not be an exception. The fight on corruption is bigger than any political party or World Bank sent-by liberal Skhothane.

ANC declared war on the worst form of corruption called “apartheid” and won. Now its time for all of us South Africans to work with the government ensuring the kind of greed corruption we now have comes to an end.

The chapter 9 institutions, the judiciary and other organizations we have will do a better job than her in fighting corruption.

Esethu Hasane @comredeEsethu on twitter