Ramaphosa addresses various issues in the January 8 Statement in Mbombela
Supporters of the ruling party travelled from near and far to be the first receivers of the much-anticipated statement made by the ANC president, covering issues faced by ordinary citizens.
As he was addressing the thousands of people who attended the much-anticipated January 8 Statement, the ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa, touched on various issues affecting the people of South Africa on a daily basis.
The 112th anniversary of the ANC that was held at Mbombela Stadium saw members of the ruling party travelling from various provinces to attend this annual event.
When addressing one of most discussed issues affecting South Africans, resolving the energy crisis and ending load-shedding, he said, “The work that has been done over the last year in implementing the Energy Action Plan has given us greater confidence that we will bring load-shedding to an end. Although we still experience interruptions in electricity supply, the overall trend is towards less severe load-shedding and better management and communication of outages. The regulatory reforms we have initiated have enabled a massive increase in investment in electricity generation. Attention is now being given to expansion of investment in additional transmission grid capacity.”
During his address, Ramaphosa said he was pleased that the Mpumalanga ANC’s chairperson, Mandla Ndlovu, had made sure that there were placards and banners that read ‘Free Palestine’ in the stadium, and that a call for a ceasefire was made.
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“We condemn in the strongest terms the appalling slaughter by the Israeli government of more than 22 000 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The ANC has always stood side by side with the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination, because, like we were before 1994, they too are faced with a brutal apartheid regime.”
Ramophosa shared his appreciation on how Ronald Lamola has led the legal team that represented South Africa. “It has been a moment of great pride to see our legal team arguing South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice, led by the son of this province, Ronald Lamola,” he said.
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When discussing the key elements of the renewal programme, including instilling discipline and respect for organisational processes and principles, he said: “The ANC is committed to developing and, where necessary, correcting its members and leaders. However, as renewal gains momentum, those whose conduct is in conflict with our values and principles, the criminals, the corrupt, the careerists and factionalists, and those who actively work against the organisation will find themselves outside the ANC. There will be no compromise on the fundamental matters of organisational discipline and integrity.”
