ANC celebrates 113 years amid reflections,renewal and challenges

“The ANC will continue to lead this country forward.”

This was said by party president Cyril Ramaphosa as South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) celebrated 113 years of existence on Wednesday.

A sentimental visit to Robben Island, renewal and the party’s role in society were dominant features of a cake-cutting event in Cape Town.

Party supporters, Tripartite Alliance representatives and senior officials – including Ramaphosa – gathered at the Dulcie September Hall in Athlone for the celebrations.

The event kicked off with messages of support from within the Tripartite Alliance.

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Zingiswa Losi described the moment as an opportunity to “honour the memories and sacrifices and the principles and visions of our stalwarts and ordinary South Africans who [trod] this path before us and who built and left this African National Congress in our hands and to strengthen it”.

Losi referred to Dulcie September – after whom the hall was named, and a struggle stalwart who was assassinated in Paris, France for her anti-apartheid work – and other anti-apartheid fighters who lived and worked nearby, such as uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) operatives and youth activists Coline Williams and Robert Waterwitch, saying it was “fitting” that the celebration took place there.

Waterwitch and Williams were both killed in 1989 when a limpet mine exploded opposite the Athlone Magistrates’ Court.

She said while they celebrated the party and the role it had played in society, “we dare not rest” when places such as nearby Nyanga were known as murder capitals while Hanover Park was the scene of frequent gun battles.

Meanwhile, Benson Ngqentsu, a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and a member of the ANC caucus in the Western Cape legislature, congratulated the party on its birthday – calling it a “milestone”.

Ngqentsu said it was a time of reflection for members and leaders and a time to ask a “pertinent” question: “What is the state of the working class?”

The ANC is still dealing with the fallout of the SACP’s decision to contest elections on its own, as early as the upcoming 2026 local government elections.

The party’s birthday celebrations will culminate tomorrow at Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha, where the ANC enjoys a traditional support base.

Throughout this week, party members have attended activities in Cape Town for the build-up to the final festivities – from a special National Executive Committee meeting on Monday night to finalise Ramaphosa’s speech, to visits to stalwarts, a trip to Robben Island on Wednesday morning and activities at taxi ranks.

‘ANC WILL NOT DISAPPEAR’

In response to messages of support, Ramaphosa said: “We are grateful for the messages of support. They warm our hearts and they encourage us. They make us feel we can carry on with this struggle.”

He also referred to the party’s longevity – Africa’s oldest liberation movement.

Ramaphosa said there had been sentiment that the ANC would not reach 100 years old, but it did.

“The ANC will not disappear,” he said.

Ramaphosa then mentioned that before the 2024 polls, some thought the party would get only 30% of the vote.

“They were very disappointed. The ANC still lives. The ANC still leads and the ANC will continue to lead this country going forward,” he said.

The party had a poor showing in the 2024 elections, where it received 40.18% of the vote, dropping below 50% for the first time in a democratic election.

This is in comparison with 2019, when the ANC received 57.5% of the vote.

The party now leads the Government of National Unity with nine other political parties.

ROBBEN ISLAND VISIT

During Ramaphosa’s speech, he referred several times to the party’s visit to Robben Island in the morning.

“For us, this was … not only a symbolic moment, but also an important moment to remember those who suffered, those who were involved in the struggle against apartheid,” he said.

“We were very pleased to celebrate the formation of the ANC … where we remembered [Nelson Mandela] and other leaders fondly,” he said.

“We went to Robben Island to go and draw inspiration, to draw courage from those who suffered immensely from their lives … they suffered, they were tortured, they were humiliated,” Ramaphosa said.

“A number of them also died on Robben Island and we went there to remember the commitment and the sacrifices that they made so that we can be inspired. We can all be inspired to carry on with this mission that was given to John Langalibalele Dube [the ANC’s founder] and all the other leaders in 1912, 113 years ago.”

‘DIFFERENT ENERGY’

Outside the hall, Hanover Park resident Sylvana le Fleur spoke to Daily Maverick.

An activist since her school days in 1976, she became a member of the ANC when it was unbanned in 1990.

“I think the ANC is still relevant,” she said.

Le Fleur told Daily Maverick that all parties suffered scandals, but others were just good at protecting one another. At the same time, she said, “We need to call out” the rotten apples who were giving the party a bad name.

When asked if she saw more people coming to the ANC as a political home, she said “there is a different energy” in the party.

She said the ANC had undergone a renewal.

Another party member, Nomfanekiso Noqa from Langa, told Daily Maverick she “grew up in the movement” as her parents were both members of the party.

“I clap my hands for Ramaphosa because he is fixing the damage done by some of our comrades,” she said.

Noqa said she would remain a member despite comrades joining breakaway parties.

Much like Le Fleur, she pointed to the “rotten apples” in the party who were being bought or were leaving for other parties.

She said during the recent elections “some of the people didn’t want to vote, now they see” the impact of the votes they could have cast.

More than 11 million registered voters did not cast their ballots in the general election.

It hasn’t been all good party vibes in this birthday celebration.

In Khayelitsha, deputy president Paul Mashatile’s visit to an ANC stalwart was disrupted by a man who did not want an entourage of people inside his mother’s house.

According to Eyewitness News, Mashatile’s security detail prevented the man from entering the house.

According to the publication, Mashatile said: “We are sorry that my bodyguards pushed your son. They were not aware that he lived here. Please send our apologies to him. I’m so sorry.”

In another development, Jacob Zuma, axed party member, former party president and founder of the rival MK party, announced that he had sent legal papers to the ANC to demand the reversal of his expulsion – on the day the party celebrated its birthday.

As Daily Maverick journalist Nonkululeko Njilo reported, party secretary general Fikile Mbalula told journalists at Robben Island: “[Zuma] is a mischievous and ridiculous old man who basically thrives on disunity for his own interests.” – Daily Maverick