The African National Congress celebrated 111 of its existence at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Mangaung, Bloemfontein.Members gathered in their numbers to listen to ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver the National Executive Committee's  NEC) January 8 Statement. At the top of the agenda, were factors that are affecting South Africans and how they as the ANC needed to renew themselves to be a better ruling party for the people.

DEAL WITH PARTY WEAKNESSES

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the ANC acknowledges and is aware that people were going through tough times and in order to address these they need to deal with their own weaknesses. Unemployment, crime, energy crisis, poverty, drugs and service delivery were some of the factors Ramaphosa mentioned. "People are increasingly losing hope of ever finding employment or setting up viable business. The energy crisis undermines economic growth and investment prospects and persistent load-shedding destroys businesses and compromises the production of food and the provision of social services such as water, sanitation, community safety, education and health."He said Increasing lawlessness, criminality and violence creates a situation in which women and children live in fear not only in the streets of their towns and villages but also in their homes."More young people are finding themselves in desperate conditions and they end up resorting to alcohol and drug abuse," said Ramaphosa. He said citizens were unfortunately still riddled with racism which the ANC has worked hard to eliminate since the rise of democracy.

REVERSE THE GAINS

Climate change has resulted in extreme weather conditions such as floods, drought, and fire, leading to social displacement and food insecurity. Ramaphosa said all these difficulties threatened to reverse their hard earned gains of democracy. He said in this regard the NEC came up with the following solutions:

1.  specific initiatives and programmes to deepen the Renewal of the ANC;

2. accelerate the resolution of the energy crisis to end load-shedding;

3. boldly mobilise social partners around economic reconstruction and recovery in order increase job creation, investment and empowerment;

4. improve delivery of basic services and maintaining infrastructure;

5. strengthen the fight against crime and corruption;

6. action to build a better Africa and world.

"Accordingly, the 55th National Conference of the ANC has emphatically and firmly resolved that urgent and decisive action must be taken to place our country back on a positive development path that puts the interests of the people first," the president of the leading party said.