Ramaphosa Outlines Six ANC Priorities for 2026 at 114th Anniversary Rally
RUSTENBURG, 10 January 2026. African National Congress President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the party's annual January 8 statement at Moruleng Stadium outside Rustenburg in the North West on Saturday, marking the ANC's 114th anniversary and outlining six priorities the party's National Executive...
Ramaphosa Outlines Six ANC Priorities for 2026 at 114th Anniversary Rally
RUSTENBURG, 10 January 2026. African National Congress President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the party's annual January 8 statement at Moruleng Stadium outside Rustenburg in the North West on Saturday, marking the ANC's 114th anniversary and outlining six priorities the party's National Executive Committee has set for 2026, with local government identified as the primary focus.
The priorities Ramaphosa set out included fixing local government and improving basic service delivery, including housing, education, healthcare, electricity, water, sanitation, and roads, along with accelerating economic transformation and job creation, waging war on crime and corruption, tackling gender-based violence and femicide, and strengthening both the national dialogue and South Africa's continental and global relationships.
Ramaphosa used the occasion to deliver a sharp rebuke of organisations including AfriForum and Solidarity, accusing them of spreading false narratives about "white genocide" and of seeking to "fragment the motive forces of change" and establish "parallel state structures." The remarks came weeks after President Donald Trump had cited such narratives in declining to attend the G20 summit hosted in Johannesburg in November 2025.
The event was attended by thousands of ANC supporters and allied organisation representatives, though large sections of the open stands at Moruleng Stadium remained empty. Thousands of additional supporters were unable to reach the venue, caught in multi-hour traffic jams caused by a single-lane road leading to the stadium. Extreme heat further limited attendance. State Security Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni characterised the event as "very successful" despite the logistical difficulties.
The ANC enters 2026 facing a watershed year in which South Africa will hold local government elections, the first national electoral test since the party entered a Government of National Unity following its loss of its parliamentary majority in the May 2024 general elections. The ANC holds approximately 40% of the national vote.
The ANC has held an annual January 8 statement since the 1940s, using the occasion of the party's founding anniversary to outline its political programme for the year ahead.