By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa said people who thought that the party would be derailed from power were dreaming.
“Those who think the ANC can be airbrushed out of existence, can be booted out easily, are dreaming because it’s not going to happen. It’s only dreams,” he said.
Earlier the president and family members laid wreaths at the late Dr Enos Mabuza’s grave in Louwvillle in Barberton.
Mabuza is a former prime minister of the former kaNgwane government.
This is part of the build-up activities and birthday celebrations for Saturday.
Ramaphosa has dismissed rumours that he was hospitalised after collapsing on Sunday.
He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the wreath-laying ceremony at the gravesite of the late Dr Mabuza at Louwville Cemetery.
Ramaphosa’s absence from some activities in Mbombela on Sunday set tongues wagging, with speculation that his health had taken a turn for the worse.
‘I had meetings, then I continued working at home, clearly on the instructions of the officials, saying that ‘we want you to be well preserved because the next six days will be very vigorous for you as a president’,” Ramaphosa said on Monday.
“So the news of my illness and the news that I was in ICU are extremely exaggerated; I am fit as a fiddle, I have no illness whatsoever, I didn’t collapse.”
Ramaphosa hailed the ANC for its 30-year “unmatched” leadership, saying all the “Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck” oranisations will not amount to anything the ANC has done.
“All these Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck organisations will not be able to unite a cross-section of South Africans like the ANC,” he said.
He said the ANC was not a “chance-taker party with no experience to run the country.
“Look at our record for the last 30 years; you will find that the ANC has done well; it has the experience to do well, the leadership to do well, and the structures to perform,” he said.
He maintained that there was no organisation capable of uniting South Africans.
He made the remarks at the party’s cake-cutting ceremony at Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga on Monday.
After 30 years of being in government, the ANC has been left with knocks on its heads as the country struggles from its failures.
This included high rates of unemployment, crime, gender-based violence, ongoing power cuts, poor service delivery, poor economic growth and development, as well as poverty.
However, despite its flaws, Ramaphosa urged the public not to lose faith and interest in voting for the ANC to ensure that it stayed in power to govern the country.
He said the party was ready to govern and address issues facing the nation.
ANC Veterans League (ANCVL) President Snuki Zikalala has urged the governing party to ensure that all members implicated in the commission of inquiry into state capture and other corruption scandals are not included in the election candidates list.
He was speaking at the ANC’s 112th anniversary celebrations at Mbombela Stadium on Monday morning.
Zikalala urged the party’s national executive committee members to ensure that they produce a credible nomination list.
“We must be certain that those implicated in the Zondo Commission, VBS and other commissions appear before the (ANC) integrity commission as instructed by the national executive committee in April,” he said.
The ANCVL took a resolution at its conference last year that the ANC must act against those implicated in the State Capture Commission and other corruption scandals.
ANC Youth League President Collen Malatji used this celebration as a platform to address issues pertinent to South Africa’s youth and the future trajectory of the ANC.
Malatji emphasized that the ANC’s renewal program had been successful in filtering out criminals masquerading as politicians and icons of the struggle.
He expressed skepticism about the survival of the uMkhonto weSizwe party over the next five years, alleging that its formation was merely an attempt to besmirch the ANC.
The ANC Youth League President’s speech further highlighted the ongoing tensions within South Africa’s political sphere. The speech served as a strong reaffirmation of the ANC’s commitment to its values and an unambiguous denouncement of those perceived to be undermining the party’s integrity.
Ramaphosa will deliver the NEC statement on Saturday, as January 8 falls within the working week.
As a build up to the Saturday celebrations, all ANC NEC members led by their President are in Mpumalanga interacting with different communities.
Watch Live in the video below:
Video Courtesy of MYANC.