Durban - ANC national executive committee (NEC) member Zweli Mkhize on Sunday said plenty of work remains to be done in emancipating those in impoverished areas across the country.
He was speaking at the Vuyani Nkosi memorial lecture in Chesterville, Durban, on Sunday.
Mkhize said on many fronts the struggle was not over for the governing party.
“The struggle is not over. The struggle will not be over so long as our communities are still ravaged by the triple challenges of unemployment, inequality and poverty.
"Our struggle will not be over so long as our youth are prisoners of drugs and substance abuse, criminality, gender-based violence, HIV/Aids and other diseases,” Mkhize said.
In an apparent reference to the party's internal divisions in the eThekwini region, Mkhize pleaded with the members to emulate the late Nkosi and strive for unity.
Nkosi, an ANC freedom fighter, was assassinated 20 years ago.
He was the son of former KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu who was born before he married Nkosi's mother, Dudu Mchunu, hence he kept the Nkosi surname.
Meanwhile, the ANC provincial deputy chairperson and former Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu, speaking at the same event, said the DA would not last in running the City of Tshwane for long.
He maintained that the opposition party's recent high court victory that re-installed mayor Stevens Mokgalapa, after he was ousted last week, would not last long.
Mabuyakhulu also pleaded with ANC members to quietly use the opportunity to recruit new members, including from “crumbling parties” like the DA.
He said despite attempts by the DA to cling to Tshwane, their defeat first in the City of Joburg was a sign that the opposition was falling apart.
Mabuyakhulu also took a swipe at the party saying they would never lead people through courts, indirectly saying they must win elections if they want to govern.
“You see comrades, there are parties that are falling apart, one of the parties is crumbling so much that it has lost (the city of) Joburg. It started with Nelson Mandela Bay, then Johannesburg, and now they are about to lose Tshwane,” he said.
He added: “In as much as they have still gone to court they will not be able to keep Tshwane because there is no political party that was ever able to lead people by using courts. None. You can never lead people through court decisions.”
Touching on the mission of the ANC, Mabuyakhulu said their work is far from being accomplished as there were several challenges it needed to deal with in the country.