South African Opposition Groups Uniting Around Candidacy of Anti-Apartheid Activist for President

Mamphela Ramphele challenging alleged rapist and AIDS denier Jacob Zuma for the South African presidency

South Africa's leading opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has joined Dr Mamphela Ramphele, a celebrated anti-apartheid activist and leader of a smaller political group, in a coalition they say will be a "game-changer" in the battle to unseat the monolithic African National Congress in this year's elections.

Dr Mamphela, a medical doctor, academic and the former girlfriend of Steve Biko, with whom she founded the Black Consciousness Movement, has also been appointed as the DA's presidential candidate to take on the ANC's Jacob Zuma.