President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to use the January 8 statement to promote the government of national unity (GNU) while declaring 2025 the year of national dialogue when the party celebrates its birthday on Saturday.
ANC leaders from across the country have descended on Cape Town to celebrate the party's 113th birthday at Khayelitsha's Mandela Park stadium.
The 2,000-seater stadium is expected to host more than 20,000 ANC supporters from across the city. This number is below normal for the ANC as the party is known for hosting its birthdays at South Africa's grandest stadiums.
The ANC was in a campaign to convince South Africans it was their choice to host its annual event at Mandela Park stadium however DA mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis quickly took to social media to dispute this.
While the two parties co-govern in the GNU, this week saw leaders from both the DA and the ANC taking jabs against each other over the state of townships in the Western Cape.
Ramaphosa and the ANC top brass criss-crossed the province this week in an effort to mobilise support for its event. The party leaders also had an opportunity to visit Robben Island where several ANC luminaries were imprisoned.
While the January 8 statement has previously outlined its government programme for the year, it expected the Ramaphosa will use this year's statement to confirm the ANC's role as the leader of the GNU.
Giving a sneak peek into the statement during the annual gala dinner on Friday night, Ramaphosa said it would address issues of concern to people and outline the reasons the ANC holds the firm view that the National Democratic Revolution is incomplete.
“We need to intensify the execution of the National Democratic Revolution. We have yet to attain the vision that has been set out in the Freedom Charter as South Africa to ensure that, indeed, we bring about prosperity in our country. All our people are yet to share in the wealth of our country. And the quest that continues to be articulated by our people broadly, but that is more sharply also articulated by the young people in our country,” he said.
He said the ANC will reiterate its commitment to continue with the process of driving inclusive growth that will lead to the transformation of the economy as well as the various institutions of the economy.
“As such, inclusive growth must benefit all South Africans, but in particular, the women of our country, the young people and the marginalised, vulnerable groups throughout our country. In particular, we must put before our people, concrete and targeted measures to address the challenge of unemployment, but we must also focus on how we empower young people, to prepare them for the world of work, to focus on broadening access to education, as well as enhancing quality education and strengthening skills development and expand enrolment in areas demanded by the evolving labour market laws such as Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela Act).
“The Bela law is aimed at ensuring that we improve our education system, and we insist that indeed, that law, the Bela Act, is going to be implemented — whether people like it or not, it is going to happen,” he said.
He also assured the business elite who have been against the implementation of the National Health Insurance Act that it would be implemented with the aim to provide universal access and quality health care that is free at the point of service.
“We will proceed with that,” he said.
“We will also talk to the understanding that we have brought to bear about the painful electoral setback that the ANC suffered in 2024 and we will also speak to the reasons why we've suffered this setback and what the ANC needs to do to claim back ground and how we can ensure that the ANC not only regains ground, but regains the trust and confidence of our people,” Ramaphosa said.
TimesLIVE
Ramaphosa to declare 2025 year of dialogue during ANC birthday celebration
Digital Politics Editor
Image: x/@MYANC
President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to use the January 8 statement to promote the government of national unity (GNU) while declaring 2025 the year of national dialogue when the party celebrates its birthday on Saturday.
ANC leaders from across the country have descended on Cape Town to celebrate the party's 113th birthday at Khayelitsha's Mandela Park stadium.
The 2,000-seater stadium is expected to host more than 20,000 ANC supporters from across the city. This number is below normal for the ANC as the party is known for hosting its birthdays at South Africa's grandest stadiums.
The ANC was in a campaign to convince South Africans it was their choice to host its annual event at Mandela Park stadium however DA mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis quickly took to social media to dispute this.
While the two parties co-govern in the GNU, this week saw leaders from both the DA and the ANC taking jabs against each other over the state of townships in the Western Cape.
Ramaphosa and the ANC top brass criss-crossed the province this week in an effort to mobilise support for its event. The party leaders also had an opportunity to visit Robben Island where several ANC luminaries were imprisoned.
While the January 8 statement has previously outlined its government programme for the year, it expected the Ramaphosa will use this year's statement to confirm the ANC's role as the leader of the GNU.
Giving a sneak peek into the statement during the annual gala dinner on Friday night, Ramaphosa said it would address issues of concern to people and outline the reasons the ANC holds the firm view that the National Democratic Revolution is incomplete.
“We need to intensify the execution of the National Democratic Revolution. We have yet to attain the vision that has been set out in the Freedom Charter as South Africa to ensure that, indeed, we bring about prosperity in our country. All our people are yet to share in the wealth of our country. And the quest that continues to be articulated by our people broadly, but that is more sharply also articulated by the young people in our country,” he said.
He said the ANC will reiterate its commitment to continue with the process of driving inclusive growth that will lead to the transformation of the economy as well as the various institutions of the economy.
“As such, inclusive growth must benefit all South Africans, but in particular, the women of our country, the young people and the marginalised, vulnerable groups throughout our country. In particular, we must put before our people, concrete and targeted measures to address the challenge of unemployment, but we must also focus on how we empower young people, to prepare them for the world of work, to focus on broadening access to education, as well as enhancing quality education and strengthening skills development and expand enrolment in areas demanded by the evolving labour market laws such as Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela Act).
“The Bela law is aimed at ensuring that we improve our education system, and we insist that indeed, that law, the Bela Act, is going to be implemented — whether people like it or not, it is going to happen,” he said.
He also assured the business elite who have been against the implementation of the National Health Insurance Act that it would be implemented with the aim to provide universal access and quality health care that is free at the point of service.
“We will proceed with that,” he said.
“We will also talk to the understanding that we have brought to bear about the painful electoral setback that the ANC suffered in 2024 and we will also speak to the reasons why we've suffered this setback and what the ANC needs to do to claim back ground and how we can ensure that the ANC not only regains ground, but regains the trust and confidence of our people,” Ramaphosa said.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos