ANC will not implode: Zuma

27/04/2011 President Jacob Zuma at the Union Building during the freedom day celebration. Picture : Sizwe Ndingane

27/04/2011 President Jacob Zuma at the Union Building during the freedom day celebration. Picture : Sizwe Ndingane

Published Dec 11, 2012

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Willowvale, Eastern Cape - The ANC would emerge stronger after its elective conference in Mangaung despite predictions that the party would implode, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.

“These prophesies are not new as the death of the ANC was predicted before in 1940s and later in the 1960s and the 1970s,” Zuma said.

“The enemy always confused wishes for horses and it rode home with the illusions of the end of an era for the movement of the people,” he said.

“Little did they know that the African National Congress is the parliament of the people and will live on for as long as the people survive.”

Zuma was giving his acceptance speech at the King Hintsa Bravery Awards in Willowvale in the Eastern Cape.

He said it was an honour to receive the award.

Zuma said the elective conference was a renewal method for the ANC as it got reborn and it was an essential survival medicine for the party.

“We do understand that the ANC is the Parliament of the people and that whatever turbulence, real or perceived, within it causes ructions and unwarranted panic and hysteria,” Zuma said.

“We take this opportunity to assure South Africa that we will go to Mangaung this weekend and very serious and constructive policy discussions will take place, to take our country forward to the second phase of our transition from colonialism of a special type to a National Democratic Society.”

Zuma said that branches would elect leadership and take resolutions to take the country forward.

He said the government was also committed to restore the role and dignity of traditional leaders.

“We need to stabilise the area of traditional rule, minimise conflict and succession feuds and enable traditional; councils and leader to play a role in the development of their communities.”

Nomination conferences by the ANC's nine provincial branches and three leagues ended on Thursday, nearly a week after the deadline.

KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, North West and Mpumalanga nominated President Jacob Zuma to stand for a second term as party president. The ANC Women's and Veterans' leagues also nominated Zuma.

Gauteng, Limpopo, the Western Cape, and the ANC Youth League nominated Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. - Sapa

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