President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the January 8 statement at the Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit. Picture: Itumeleng English/ IndependentNewspaper
Despite the challenges facing the party, President Cyril Ramaphosa is still confident that the ANC will again remain the ruling party after the 2024 general elections.
“We are, without a doubt, going to be the governing party once again,” he said.
He was delivering the opening remarks at the NEC lekgotla meeting at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Monday.
Lekgotla kicked off days after the party celebrated its 112th anniversary and 30 years of being in power.
He stated that January 8 served to highlight tasks such as securing a victory for the ANC in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
“We recently celebrated the ANC’s 112 years in Mbombela with the January 8th statement that outlines tasks for the year, which include securing a decisive victory for the ANC in the upcoming elections,” he said.
He said the lekgotla should lay the groundwork for the ANC to achieve its objectives in the future.
During his address, Ramaphosa hailed the ANC for tirelessly working to ensure that the poor received adequate resources that would enable them to live in a stable society.
“Since 1994, we have used various mechanisms to distribute resources to the people of our country, and we have further ensured that we implement pro-poor policies,” he said.
He admitted that the country was facing a severe shortage of essential services but assured that the ANC would move quickly to address the issues.
This included railway infrastructure, jobs, electricity, poverty, service delivery, and gender-based violence (GBV).
However, to curb the spread of the crisis, Ramaphosa said that his party has set up interventions that will create jobs and fight poverty.
“Not only do we need to maintain the momentum of change, but we also need to intensify the interventions,” he said.
He stated that the interventions will seek to ensure that no one lives in poverty in society.
He maintained that it was time that their plans spoke to reality, especially this election year.
Earlier this month, delivering the January 8 statement in Mpumalanga, Ramaphosa encouraged and called on the masses to fully support the intervention programme.
"We should come up with interventions and a programme that would say no graduate must go unemployed. We are committed to addressing this challenge where we have educated our young people and where they become graduates,” he said.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
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