ANC members at the Northern Cape Academy of Sport in Galeshewe township, Kimberley, being addressed by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, 8 January 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has praised the party’s leaders for working on making a success of ensuring the party is renewed and united.
Ramaphosa said this in a speech shortly before he and some of the party’s NEC members cut a cake for its 108th birthday.
He said the ANC will be united and renewed against all odds. Earlier in the day, Ramaphosa attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Sol Plaatje’s grave. Plaatje was the first secretary general of the ANC.
“We proved that we are involved in the process of renewing ourselves so that we can once again be the ANC that subscribes to the principles, the values, of integrity that Sol Plaatje, John Langalibalele Dube and many others subscribed to and that we are making a success of making sure that the ANC is renewed.”
He added that the party’s leaders are fighting corruption in its ranks.
Ramaphosa, the ANC’s top six and the national executive have also been mobilising communities in the Northern Cape in the build-up to its anniversary rally in Kimberley on Saturday. He said in their door-to-door programme around the Northern Cape, he had engaged with residents who had conveyed their concerns.
Residents have expressed concerns related to service delivery, unemployment and poverty.
On his visit to Pampierstad, Ramaphosa said he spent the day discussing challenges facing the community.
“They raised concerns about simple and straightforward matters, things that matter to them. They were able to inform us that the state of unemployment in our province has reached proportions that are unbearable…
“They also raised with us the issue of water. They raised with us the issue of sanitation. We listened very intently, and we indeed say we have got to respond to the needs that our people are articulating.”
After hearing community concerns on road infrastructure, Ramaphosa said they decided to kick-start a project of building roads and attending to sanitation challenges.
He added that while communities complained of a lack of basic services, residents also expressed their appreciation for the gains made by the ANC.
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