PHUTI MOSOMANE
THE ANC is expected to resume the 55th national elective conference on Thursday after failing to conclude its business in December due to several delays and technical challenges.
The conference adjourned on December 20 with a resolution to continue in a hybrid format on 5 January 2023.
After the hybrid national conference on Friday, the ANC will then move to hold the annual January 8 Statement rally in Bloemfontein, Free State, on Sunday, where President Cyril Ramaphosa is will deliver the party’s programme of action for the year ahead.
Mbalula said that the party has managed to sort out all outstanding issues pertaining to safety regulations at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium where the party’s January 8 Statement celebrations will be held.
Earlier, the stadium was deemed unfit to host the event by acting city manager Tebogo Motlashuping. Motlashuping said that the northern part of the stadium had sunk after its construction, and that all toilet facilities had been vandalised with no running water, and that the stadium had no electricity or fire safety certificates, and the lifts were non-operational and there was no availability of VIP rooms.
“All matters which were previously flagged in relation to the stadium infrastructure have since been cleared, ” Mbalula said.
Over 4 000 Conference delegates will converge in nine hybrid venues for the conclusion of the 55th National Conference from the fifth to the sixth of January.
Mbalula said Ramaphosa will give a closing address on the sixth.
Mbalula said the delegates will converge at eight hubs in various provinces to connect with the national hub, which will be based in Bloemfontein, Free State.
The main agenda of the conference will be to conclude reports on Strategy and Tactics, organisational renewal, governance and transformation, Constitutional Amendments and conference declaration.
Mbalula said the ANC NEC, its alliance partners and Free State delegates will all be at the Mangaung hub, and that credentials for all delegates will remain unchanged.
The party will host Economic Reforms and Just Energy Transition Dialogue on Friday, 06 January 2023 at Mahube Tumelo Hall, 24 Ben Jones, Hamilton Bloemfontein, Free State.
On Saturday 4pm, Mbalula will be the keynote speaker at the Peter Mokaba Memorial Lecture organized by the ANC Youth League at Paradise Hall in Bochabelo, Mangaung.
The ANC will also host a Golf Day and a gala dinner on the seventh of January 2023 for fund-raising purposes.
“We don’t have money … We raise money from people who have money in order to move forward the programme of the ANC. That’s why we sell tables,” Mbalula added.
On Sunday, Ramaphosa will deliver the much-anticipated January 8th statement, which will outline what the party will prioritise in 2023.
Traditionally, the statement also informs the ANC led-government’s programme of action for the year.
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