ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the party is confident it will fill the Nelson Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, on January 11, at its annual January 8, statement celebration.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has called out the African National Congress (ANC) for lying ahead of its ANC's January 8 celebrations this weekend.
The 113th ANC birthday celebration will be taking place at Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha on Saturday where President Cyril Ramaphosa will be delivering his keynote address. It will also be one of the smallest birthday celebrations in over a decade for the ANC.
The stadium where celebrations will be hosted will only be able to seat 2,000 people.
The Western Cape has been a stronghold for the Democratic Alliance (DA) since 2009.
The post on X by Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Image: X/Geordin Hill-Lewis
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hill-Lewis stated the ANC was lying about booking the stadium in Khayelitsha out of concern for residents.
He said the party was "too incompetent" to book any venue in advance.
“For the record, the ANC did not book the Khayelitsha stadium 'out of concern' for residents. They’re lying. They booked it because they were too incompetent to book any other venue in time. They only tried to book Cape Town Stadium in mid-November 2024! It was already booked for a Stormers game. Then they tried Athlone Stadium. It was also booked, for the Klopse Carnival.[sic]”
Hill-Lewis refuted allegations that the City refused the stadium to the ANC.
The City's website confirm the Mandela Park Stadium seats 2,000 people.
Image: City of Cape Town website
“Several ANC office bearers called me asking for help in late November and even early December. They said we were trying to sabotage them by refusing the Stadium. In November! Lol! The last conversation I had was 5 December, and by then they still hadn’t made a booking. So please don’t believe their nonsense.[sic]”
Hitting back at these allegations, ANC national spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the DA was "catching feelings".
“We are not going to entertain various leaders of the DA who are catching feelings for the ANC being in the Western Cape. When we hold our January 8 celebrations we have no glitches in other provinces. We apply and adhere to all by-laws and compliances. The decisions made were intentional and pre-determined by the National Executive Committee (NEC) months ago. We cannot help the DA is catching feelings for the ANC on the grounds of us being warmly received by the people of the Western Cape,” Bhengu-Motsiri told IOL.
The January 8, rally is a significant event on the ANC's annual calendar, originating in 1972 to commemorate the party's founding on January 8, 1912, in Bloemfontein.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL
