JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Saturday said the upcoming 54th national conference will be time for the party to renew itself and reclaim its core values.
"We have to emerge out of that conference united, renewed and reinvigorated. That is the deal time to revamp the party and elect leadership who have got a vision, leadership people believe in and want to follow again," he said in Johannesburg.
Ramaphosa said that the conference should usher leadership that would bring stability in the country leading to progress. He also said the new leadership should come out of the conference with a vow to wipe poverty and unemployment which are the country's biggest challenges.
Ramaphosa, also the South African deputy president, praised China as an example of a country who speedily grew their economy and fought poverty well. "Within a short space of time, China transformed their economy and put it on a higher growth path...Many Chinese have a hope for the future, they have hope that their government will improve the country and the money will not be wasted but used to develop the country. We want South Africans to also have hope for the future."
Ramaphosa said the new ANC leadership should address issues affecting women and the youth.
He said if they do the right thing during the next National Conference, they will win the 2019 Presidential and Parliamentary elections and reclaim the lost municipalities in 2016 during the municipal elections.
The ANC will have their 54th Conference in December to elect the new leadership of the party who will lead the organization for the next five years. Ramaphosa and the former African Union Commission chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma are the front runners to succeed Jacob Zuma as the party president.
