ANC January 8 statement celebrations get underway
When ANC chairman Gwede Mantashe introduced Jacob Zuma, he was immediately booed
ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa and the rest of the party’s leadership arrived at the January 8 statement as a new leadership collective without much fanfare. The leaders did not walk a lap around the field at the East London Absa Stadium, and merely moved swiftly onto the stage where they danced and sang about about unity. The programme officially kicked off exactly at the time that it was set to begin, in contrast with previous ANC events where it was standard to wait for hours. Before the top leadership arrived, thousands of ANC supporters sang different songs in support of Ramaphosa. The interfaith prayers started ahead of what was scheduled. Secretary general Ave Magashule said on Friday that Ramaphosa would start his address at exactly 11am, which seemed highly probable by 10am. Oscar Mabuyane, ANC chairman in the Eastern Cape, welcomed all of the ANC members to the province he leads. "Our 54th president has given us as South Africans a renewed sense of hope," Mabuyane said. Ma...
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