ANC has to go back to basics: Zuma

He said Gauteng was more important to the ANC than many other provinces because it is  home to the ANC's headquarters.

He said the province was the face of the ANC and the country.

“You cannot have Gauteng not being prominent in ... the ruling party," he said”

Zuma said no other party in the country had the capacity to move the country forward.

“There is no other entity in South Africa that can take us forward. If we don’t know that, then we are committing the biggest mistake as the ANC," Zuma said.

He said unity and freedom were important for the people of the country and that people had to go back to basics.

“We have to go back to basics. Go back to our people and ask them to renew the mandate of ANC to lead our people ... In simple words, vote for us again. Take us back,” he said.

Zuma said some organisations were turning the country's “good story” into a “bad story”.

“They have been telling the wrong story of South Africa for a long time. The achievements of our movement are unparalleled. You can look at our history and Google it if you want. No country in Africa delivered in 20 years what we delivered,” Zuma said

He said for South Africans to achieve “freedom” the ANC needed to address the land issue which it could not do if it was not in power.

He said that the party needed to win the election by a big margin so that it had the power to change the law.

The Gauteng ANC leadership was the only province that told Zuma to "do the right thing" following the Concourt judgment on Nkandla.

"It is in that context that our president comrade Jacob Zuma should reflect deeply and do the right thing to resolve the unprecedented crisis that the ANC currently faces. The ANC has never taken the support of our people for granted and was founded to defend and advance the rights of our people," it said in a statement at the time, falling short of saying it wanted Zuma to step down as leader.

ANC Gauteng chairperson, Paul Mashatile, said that he wasn't happy with the fact that when the party in Gauteng did not agree to certain things, it was perceived as "anti-Zuma".

"Your attendance is also important because when we in Gauteng pronounce on some issues, we are wrongly perceived as being "anti-Zuma". As the leadership of the ANC in Gauteng we would like to be categorical that we are not against the ANC president but we always deal with issues on the basis of principle," Mashatile said.

Mashatile lashed out at the burning of schools during recent protests.

"All our children must have access to quality education and acquire proper skills. It is unacceptable that they have to endure their schools and other services burnt to the ground by anarchist forces," he said.

(Photo: Gallo Images)