BURGERSFORT – The town was painted yellow and green this past weekend as thousands of ANC members arrived to celebrate the party’s 105 years of existence at Praktiseer’s Dr CN Phatudi TVET College.The president, Mr Jacob Zuma was welcomed by chants of dipuku, a Sepedi word meaning books, after he chanted Amandla to thousands of supporters who attended the rally. This was an expression of the fact that hundreds of Limpopo schools have not yet received their textbooks and writing journals.Delivering the keynote address, Zuma pleaded for unity in the party. He said the members should be united to make sure that the ANC remains in power forever.”Thank you very much indeed for voting for the ANC and for keeping the ANC in power. I have no fear that the ANC is going to win the 2019 elections with a majority, because the ANC is on the side of the people, and God is on the side of the ANC. We cannot loose (sic).”He also called on supporters to start preparing themselves to elect credible leaders with a good struggle history.”We must prepare ourselves to choose leaders who have demonstrated a desire and commitment to serve the people. In other words, the business of choosing the leaders of the ANC is a serious business,” he said.
“You can’t elect me because I do toyi-toyi more than everybody else. You must elect me because you have seen that this comrade is capable of implementing policies of the ANC,” he added.With most thinking Zuma was going to give a hint on his successor, the president seemed a bit coy. Instead he tried to put the focus on the year ahead, saying 2017 would be a year of radical economic change and land redistribution.”We can no longer look away from the land question. It is part of economic empowerment. Without land you can’t have an economy,” the president said. Meanwhile opposition parties think the celebrations was a “waste of time” as millions were splurged on booze. “We know this might be the party’s money, but as the ruling party they should have helped with services in the Tubatse area. Money was splurged on artists, fancy restaurants, T-shirts and expensive whiskeys” said Vincent Mkhaliphi, a DA member. The party held a gala dinner before the celebrations at the local Thaba Moshate, Hotel Casino and Convention Resort.
