The ANC was yesterday lauded as being an organisation with an ancestry, a genealogy and a rich history and not a mafikizolo by the party’s president.
THE ANC was yesterday lauded as being an organisation with an ancestry, a genealogy and a rich history and not a mafikizolo by the party’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa addressed the large crowd inside the Mayibuye Multipurpose Centre in Galeshewe before proceeding to cut a cake to mark the party’s 108th birthday celebration.
He then proceeded to address the hundreds of ANC supporters and community members who had gathered in the rain outside the hall, which was filled to capacity.
“We have been around for 108 years. We are an organisation with a rich, colourful and full history. A history of struggle, sacrifice and of selflessness,” stated Ramaphosa.
He also hailed the rain, which he said was a good sign to mark a historic day in the Northern Cape.
“The ANC has brought rain to the Province after a severe drought,” he laughed. “The celebrations are blessed by the rain because we went to report to our ancestor, Sol Plaatje, earlier this morning.
“We had gone to inform him that the ANC still lives and still leads and still unites. We also informed him that although many forces tried to destroy the ANC, it is still here today and will be here for another 108 years.
“We informed him that the ANC is still holding on to the vision that the founders of the movement crafted right from the beginning.
“We thanked him and the other leaders who founded the ANC and informed them that our glorious movement is still around and we are advancing their visions.
“We informed him that we still continue to improve the lives of our people and bring democracy and justice in our country.
“But more importantly, we are now in the second transition. We are now pursuing economic transformation in a radical way by ensuring that the ideals that were set out in the Freedom Charter are achieved.”
Ramaphosa called on the ANC to stick to its resolution of renewing itself and to unite and get rid of factionalism.
ANC provincial chairperson Zamani Saul placed emphasis on the need for the current generation’s leaders to implement radical decisions on the expropriation of land without compensation.
Saul stated that radical economic transformation was needed to reverse the socio-economic impact of colonialism, which, he said, was the biggest challenge that faces the current generation’s leaders.
He pointed out that unemployment, particularly among young people, poverty and inequality were the triple burden of under-development, on which current leaders should agree to intensify their attention.
He urged the current generation to become guardians of the implementation of land expropriation without compensation to ensure that land was restored to its people.
Saul also pointed out that asset inequality needed to be addressed, but warned that this would not be achievable if the movement was divided.
