Johannesburg - President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on citizens of the Free State to come out in their numbers to hear him deliver his message to the people.
Ramaphosa is expected to chart a new path for the party during his January 8 Statement address set for the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
On Friday, Ramaphosa, who was in the company of ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile and deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane, addressed members of the community outside Thomas Maphikela's house in Mangaung.
"Please come out in your numbers on Sunday as the ANC celebrates its 111th anniversary. There is no bigger invitation than the one that I am giving you today because it is the president of the ANC and his deputy president, who are present here, who have extended this invitation.
"We need to show people that the ANC has not fallen and that the ANC is still the biggest political party in the world. By coming in your numbers to the January 8 celebrations, you will be showing those who want the ANC to die that the ANC is not dead," Ramaphosa told community members.
On Friday, the newly elected ANC NEC members held a special NEC meeting to adopt the party’s January 8 Statement. It is this statement that Ramaphosa is set to present on behalf of the party’s highest decision-making body on Sunday.
ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the party would also have an ordinary session of the NEC to elect members of the National Working Committee.
The January 8 Statement was first issued in 1972, while the ANC was in exile under the leadership of its then president, Oliver Tambo. The purpose of the statement is to chart and outline the ANC’s programme for the year.
During his closing remarks to the elective conference, in his declaration, Ramaphosa called on the leadership of the ANC to act decisively on a range of issues, including crime, gender-based violence (GBV), corruption, and other issues affecting ordinary South Africans.
The inaugural January 8 Statement was broadcast on Radio Freedom and other radio stations across southern Africa.
While still in exile, the ANC issued its first January 8th Statement in 1972, the founding date of the ANC. This statement outlined the organisation’s programme for the year. Following a hiatus of seven years, the ANC issued its next January 8th statement in 1979.
The idea of marking the anniversary of the founding of the organisation with a statement became a tradition over the years and is known as the "January 8th Statement."
However, in the years between 1972 and 1979, the ANC issued statements related to major events or issues. These were known as Special Statements.
Some of the issues the president is expected to touch on during his address include the Eskom crisis, which has seen the country battle rolling blackouts for over a year now.
Speaking during his closing address in the early hours of Friday morning at the end of the hybrid conference, which ended just before 3am on Friday morning at the Imvelo Safari Lodge in Bloemfontein, Ramaphosa said the 55th national conference was a decisive moment for the party as it seeks to reclaim its former glory.
Among other things, the conference also adopted a range of resolutions. These included the six-month review of cases of those affected by the step-aside rule, as well as the creation of a Monitoring and Evaluation unit at the party’s head office to monitor the work of those deployed in government, among many others.
The Star