Johannesburg – The year 2017 is going to be a good one for the African National Congress as it looks to renew its social contract with South African voters, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Sunday.
The ANC lost some of the country's key metros to the opposition Democratic Alliance last year during the August 3 local government elections, including Tshwane, Johannesburg, and Nelson Mandela Bay, as voters showed a lack of confidence in the party.
The ANC is set to hold its national elective conference in December to elect new leadership for the party.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and outgoing African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma have been endorsed by tripartite alliance partner the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the ANC Women's League respectively, and are leading contenders for the position of ANC president.
Speaking at the rain swept Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg, at the ANC's 105th birthday celebrations, Mantashe said he hoped that the party was going to renew itself this year by working together with communities in a bid to regain the public confidence that waned last year.
"I think 2017 is going to be one of the better years for the ANC. Rain today [Sunday] is a sign of a blessing; it's not a curse. And we are hoping that this good omen will translate to be a good year for the ANC," Mantashe said.
"But a good year is a function of working together. So we will have to invest a lot of time and energy in making it a better year. We have been to the townships here in Gauteng the whole of this week and we are talking to the people. They raised their issues and we must do better more and be responsive to the society."
The party's annual birthday party coincides with the January 8 statement to be delivered by President Jacob Zuma for the last time this year, if he does not seek and get elected for a third term as ANC president.
Jovial ANC supporters came out in their numbers from different provinces on Sunday to help fill the 40,000-seat Orlando Stadium.