ANC JANUARY 8 CELEBRATIONS | What you need to know

As the ANC marks its 114th anniversary, all eyes are on the party’s upcoming January 8 statement, to be delivered in the North West this weekend.

Party leader Cyril Ramaphosa's address is expected to reflect on the year that was, while outlining the governing party’s priorities and political messaging going into 2026.

The January 8 statement will be delivered by party president Cyril Ramaphosa.

The statement traditionally sets the tone for the ANC’s programme for the year ahead, reflecting on challenges faced by the party and outlining planned interventions under a chosen theme.

ANC National Spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu says the party's focus is not so much on talk but rather on service delivery interventions.

Political analyst Dr Ongama Mtimka says it's a significant event.

"In the democratic period, it has morphed into a precursor to the State of the Nation address."

With local government elections approaching in 2026, Mtimka says this year’s statement will focus on setting the party up for its local election campaign.

"One expects that the ANC is going to provide a lot more detail in terms of whether it can offer to South Africans, candidates at a ward level who are trustworthy, who meet some of the criteria that people have been wanting to see from ANC politicians."

Ramaphosa says ANC anniversary an opportunity to provide solutions to ongoing problems

African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa says the party's anniversary is not just a celebration of its longevity, but also an opportunity to charter solutions to the many challenges South Africans continue to face.

Ramaphosa led a cake-cutting ceremony in Rustenburg on Thursday to mark 114 years since the organisation was established.

He emphasised that as the ANC continues to age, it must not lose sight of its responsibility to serve the very people who elected it into power.

While driving to the venue of the ANC's cake-cutting celebration, large potholes were hard to miss.

Ramaphosa said the issue of potholes should not be made to seem like it is only prevalent in the North West.

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa during ANC celebrations: 'Many of our people still live in poverty'

Mokonyane pledges 'year of doing things differently' amid ongoing frustrations

The ANC has once again promised to “do things differently” when it comes to delivering services, as it marked its 114th anniversary.

Celebrations took place on Thursday, at the Moses Kotane Municipality in the North West, with various activities planned.

During community engagements across the province this week, ANC leaders were met by frustrated residents, with some voicing their dissatisfaction over poor service delivery.

ANC Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane said that as the party celebrated 114 years of its existence, it had resolved to change the way it operated, particularly in improving service delivery.

"This is a year of doing things differently. This is what the NEC has resolved. The president has announced it and things must change,"she said.

Mokonyane said the ANC’s birthday celebrations must also place a strong focus on addressing the challenges that people continue to face.

"That’s the legacy we want to carry post-G20. If we have been able to cooperate and collaborate, let’s sustain that. And let us not go to voters on the eve of elections. They must see us in action," she added.

Recent polling suggested the North West would likely remain under the ANC’s leadership in the next general elections; however, municipalities in the province remained at risk of coalitions.

The party has been commemorating this milestone in Rustenburg, Northwest, throughout the week with various activities taking place.

Activities include a cake-cutting ceremony and door-to-door campaigns and will conclude with a rally at Moruleng Stadium on Saturday.

At the rally, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa will outline the party’s key priorities for the year ahead.

ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula says this year’s January 8 statement is not merely a birthday celebration.

Ramaphosa leads wreath-laying ceremony for Moses Kotane on ANC's 114th anniversary

The ANC marked its 114th anniversary with a wreath-laying ceremony at the gravesite of late anti-apartheid activist Moses Kotane on Thursday.

Kotane died in Russia in 1978, but his remains were returned to his hometown in the North West in 2015.

He served as general secretary of the South African Communist Party and treasurer general of the ANC while in exile.

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at the former freedom fighter’s resting place in Pella.

“Moses Kotane, as a leader of our movement, never sought the glamour of politics nor the rewards of personal ambition. Having been born in this village, he left when he was 17 and unfortunately died in exile in a foreign land,” he said.

Ramaphosa added that Kotane had longed to see an apartheid-free South Africa.

“We will forever regret that he never saw a free South Africa, but we know that in spirit, he has seen the South Africa he struggled to achieve. When he was finally laid to rest here after decades, it was not merely the return of a revolutionary; it was the return of a national conscience,” he said.

Tensions between the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), once again, took centre stage as the ANC marks 114 years of its existence.

With the SACP firm on contesting the upcoming municipal elections independently, the ANC still wants the party to reconsider its decision.

The SACP, ANC and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have been part of what is known as the Tripartite Alliance for decades.

This arrangement has seen the SACP contesting elections and campaigning under the ANC banner over the years.

But when the ANC decided to form a national coalition including the DA and Freedom Front Plus, the SACP threatened to contest elections independently.

ALSO READ: ANC affirms alliance stability despite SACP's independent election bid

ANC 114th anniversary: North West residents demand better service delivery

The North West is an ANC stronghold.

The party has an outright majority in the provincial legislature and governs all the municipalities that fall under the North West, either outright or through coalitions.

However, the ANC has been forthright about the governance challenges in the North West, saying it needs to do better.

A lack of service delivery and development in the rural area of Phatsima, in the North West, sees some elderly women breaking their backs to fetch water.

Some long-time residents said development has skipped the area, as they still live without tap water and electricity in their homes.

Not too far from Phatsima, the African National Congress (ANC)’s top brass celebrated its 114th anniversary in a province which still overwhelmingly supports the party.

Eyewitness News met Elizabeth Tebeli (66) who was busy cooking dinner over a three-legged pot  using firewood.

This is how she has cooked her entire life because her home has no electricity. Tebeli also doesn't have running water, meaning she has to walk about five kilometres to fetch it.

Some residents in the Boitekong township of Rustenburg have raised health concerns following a sewage spill which has been flowing outside their homes since December last year.

Residents say their complaints to the municipality, which is run by an ANC-led coalition, have fallen on deaf ears.

The African National Congress is in the area to mark the January 8 celebrations this week.

For Modiri Motimo, leaving his home in Boitekong Extension Eight means having to carefully jump over the large, green puddle of sewage that has settled in front of his yard.

“This situation has really negatively affected us. We don’t have fresh air. Our children cannot play outside freely. We didn’t get to enjoy our December.”

ALSO READ: Rustenburg man spends over R200,000 turning neglected field into park, but legal questions loom

Some residents in Rustenburg are taking matters into their own hands, repairing damaged roads and infrastructure after years of inaction by the municipality.
 
Whether it’s cutting grass, fixing broken roads, or clearing waste, communities have been forced to handle these tasks themselves.
 
With the African National Congresss (ANC)’s top leadership celebrating its January 8 anniversary in the North West, EWN spoke to communities in the province, considered one of the party’s strongholds.