ANC Today
*Letter from The President* /Happy 100 years to the ANC - Build the ANC towards Unity in Diversity/ *Jacob G Zuma, ANC Today, Johannesburg, 13 January 2012* /Dear ANC Members,/We end this historical week on a high note, having reached two critical milestones in the life of our glorious Movement. The African National Congress held a successful and fulfilling three-days celebrations which culminated on 8 January 2012 in Mangaung where infront of more than 100 000 members and millions more around the country, the continent and the world, the ANC marked 100 years of its existence since it was formed in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress, making it the oldest Liberation Movement in the continent.
On behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the entire leadership of our Movement in all our structures across the country, I would like to express our utmost gratitude, to the ANC members and supporters who graced the occasion. We also thank the Heads of State and Government, former Heads of State, Eminent Persons and friends of the ANC and South Africa from the anti-apartheid movement around the world who travelled to our country for this historic occasion.
The atmosphere in Mangaung, during the Centenary Dinner, the Waaihoek Church ceremony, at all other preceding events and at the stadium - was electrifying. There was an unmistakable sense of pride in belonging to the ANC. It was quite a momentous and emotional occasion for all of us, proving once more that the ANC belongs not to individuals or its leadership, but to the entire masses of our people, young and old, black and white, and from all corners of our country.
Among the masses descended to Mangaung were former Robben Island prisoners and Rivonia Treason Trialists who were sentenced together with President Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and others in 1964. We were truly privileged to share this occasion with Comrades Andrew Mlangeni and Ahmed Kathrada (Izithwalandwe), who carried the centenary torch with President Thabo Mbeki to the President and Deputy President Jacob Zuma and Kgalema Motlanthe.What a truly ANC moment!
Comrades Andrew Mlangeni and Ahmed Kathrada have been disciplined and loyal members of the ANC for 60 years. They have participated at all levels of the Movement and in all phases of our struggle, including the armed struggle.The way they have conducted themselves throughout their lives is an example of how ANC members must conduct themselves at all times. We look up to them and all our stalwarts for guidance at all times.
They were pleased to share in another historical announcement on 12 January 2012 - that the ANC had reached 1 027 389 membership in good standing, a target the ANC set itself in 1942. We are so proud to have fulfilled the wishes of the 1942 ANC conference. We know that uTat'uMadiba in Qunu also marvelled at this moment. The ANC is defying doomsayers! It is growing and becoming stronger each day.
We are truly privileged and proud to be at the helm of an organisation that continues to grow not just in numbers and relevance but also in stature and influence, affirming its historical role as a trusted leader and champion of our people in the building of a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.
In celebrating the ANC's growth and success we pay tribute to all our structures and formations. We thank our Alliance partners the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party as well as the South African National Civic Organisations. We acknowledge the hard work of the leagues of our Movement, the ANC Youth League, ANC Women's League and the ANC Veterans League. We also dip our banners in salute of the members of uMkhonto we Sizwe and the MK Military Veterans Association who last year on 16 December 2011 celebrated 50 years since the birth of the ANC military wing on 16 December 1961.
It was also a measure of extreme pride that the Centenary Celebrations were marked with utmost discipline and unity by our cadres, signalling indeed that the future of the ANC is bright. For years to come, the ANC will remain a leader of society and a driver of our socio-economic transformation.
We have made an undertaking that for the next century, the ANC will consolidate all our democratic gains and achievements of our people. We must therefore intensify our efforts in all terrains including consolidating the delivery of services to the majority of our people who now have access to affordable and in some instances free basic services, housing, water, sanitation, electricity, health and many other services guaranteed in the statutes as basic human right services.
The challenges ahead require a strong and determined ANC, united in its diversity, making the unity of purpose and action the hallmark of our organisation. We said, in particular, that we will take urgent and practical steps to restore the core values of our Movement, stamp out factionalism and promote political discipline at all levels.
In this centenary, we are determined to enhance the ANC moral standing and image among the masses of our people.
The January 8 Statement of the National Executive Committee of the ANC commits all of us to combine political education with effective organisational measures and mechanisms to promote integrity, political discipline and ethical conduct and defeat the demon of factionalism in the ranks of the ANC, Alliance and broad mass democratic movement.
We must strive for and belong to our own ANC, not one that exists in other people's imaginations. We will continue to believe in an ANC that affirms much of what unites us than that which has the potential to divide the organisation. We must remain a vibrant and robust organisation that does not shy away from debate and confrontation of new ideas within its ranks.
As we take our Movement forward in this century, we must affirm that we will never betray our people's trust.They remain the ultimate guarantors of the freedom and democracy for which they sacrificed so much.
While mistakes have happened and challenges remain stark ahead of us, we shall remain focused on our historical mandate. We must refuse to reduce the ANC to an entity defined by leadership conferences and positions or agendas that are foreign to our traditions and practices.
While some sections of the population will continue to compare us to some television democracies, we will remain grounded in the people we lead, the poor majority of this country.
The Freedom Charter has taught us that The People Shall Govern at all times. Let us continue to build the ANC towards Unity in Diversity. *Happy 100th birthday to the African National Congress!****Happy Centenary to all members of the ANC and our friends the world over!*
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