On 28 January 2014, Ramphele accepted an invitation from the Democratic Alliance to stand as their presidential candidate in the 2014 general election. On 31 January 2014, Ramphele issued a statement saying that she would not take up Democratic Alliance party membership and would remain the leader of Agang South Africa, resulting in confusion. On 2 February 2014, Helen Zille stated that Ramphele had reneged on her agreement to stand as the Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate. Ramphele subsequently apologised for the reversal of her decision, saying that the timing was not right as the reaction to it had shown people were unable to overcome race-based party politics.