Johannesburg - The ANC stalwarts and the veterans' league have agreed to work with the ANC to help re-build the party’s reputation.
The two groups met with ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss the party's conference resolutions, but also to reconnect with the ANC leadership following months of tension.
The stalwarts and the ANC leadership had a tense relationship leading up to the ANC conference at Nasrec. The group had called for Zuma to step down early last year. And following the conference they called for the ANC leadership to remove Zuma as president.
Many of their calls about the need to address the issues faced by the ANC fell on deaf ears, while Zuma was still at the helm of the ANC.
Following the meeting with Ramaphosa on Monday morning the stalwarts and the veterans league have agreed to work with the ANC leadership.
“We are prepared to serve the people of this country. We are determined to do that. Together with that comes expectations, the people of this country have expectations about the future, because of that we discussed that we must come together and address how we are going to effectively address that,” said the stalwart’s Wally Serote
“We spoke about that. We also talked about the continent. We talked about the importance of renewing trust of the ANC in continent. The President has already travelled to three countries and he plans to go to more,” he said.
ANC Veterans' League President Snuki Zikalala said they will help the ANC win back the hopes of South Africans ahead of the 2019 elections.
“We will all campaign to make sure that the ANC delivers. The stalwarts and the veterans have agreed that we will campaign and ensure that we build the dignity that the ANC had before, so that we restore the confidence that people had in the ANC,” said Zikalala.
Ramphosa said the stalwarts and the veterans could find comfort in the new ANC leadership following their concerns with the direction of the party last year.
“Prior to Nasrec the Stalwarts expressed their concerns on the direction of their movement. They formed themselves into a forum that wanted to ensure that we went in the right direction. We have now arrived there, now they want to participate in building the ANC,” said Ramaphosa.
"We engaged them on the moment that we are in now as the new leadership in the ANC. We had positive views about what needs to be done and the role that should be played by our stalwarts in this new moment, in this new dawn that we are in,” he said.