ANC presiedent Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at the party's 113th birthday rally at the Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane
ANC PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has asserted that state power will remain in the hands of the ANC, dismissing efforts by breakaway parties to weaken or dislodge the ruling party.
Ramaphosa delivered his January 8 Statement at Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, on Saturday, where the ANC marked its 113th anniversary.
This was the first time the party celebrated its founding under a power-sharing agreement with the Democratic Alliance (DA) and other Government of National Unity (GNU) allies.
Addressing supporters, Ramaphosa scoffed at the idea that breakaway parties posed a threat to the ANC’s dominance.
"State power will always be in the hands of the ANC," he said. “They will never weaken the ANC. Some of these parties masquerade as more radical than the ANC, but their revolutionary-sounding rhetoric cannot hide the reality that they have a common cause with the forces opposing transformation.
"The shared goal of all these forces is to deprive the ANC of the ability to use state power to effect change.”
With confidence, Ramaphosa stated, "Whether they like it or not, the ANC will continue to lead," and urged political parties to respect the ANC.
"The president of the country is ANC, the majority of government ministers are from the ANC … this means that we are still leading regardless of the electoral results," he noted.
“We are still moving forward even if we did not get 50% (in elections),” he added, saying that the ANC still had the drive to govern.
In his speech, Ramaphosa reiterated that the ANC was still in a renewal process and part of it involved regaining people's confidence.
He said the ANC was committed to decisive action on three urgent and interrelated fronts
"Firstly, to improve the ability of our economy to create wealth and employment for all. Secondly, to improve the quality of services and the integrity, responsiveness and accountability of government in all spheres.
"Thirdly, to renew and rebuild the ANC so that it can provide decisive and ethical leadership in the resolution of our country’s problems and the realisation of the vision of the Freedom Charter," he said.
Ramaphosa concluded by reaffirming the ANC’s resilience and determination to govern alone in the future.