<\/p>\n
The size of the crowd at rallies with African National Congress (ANC) presidents over the years has once again become a subject of intense scrutiny and debate after the party announced it would use a 2,000-seater stadium for its January 8 celebrations in 2025.<\/p>\n
President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver his January 8 statement at the Mandela Park stadium in Khayelitsha, Cape Town on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Western Cape has been a stronghold for the Democratic Alliance (DA) since 2009.<\/p>\n
The 113th ANC birthday celebration will be one of the smallest in over a decade.<\/p>\n Polokwane \u2014 <\/b>January 8, 2011:Thousands of people wearing yellow ANC t-shirts and blowing vuvuzelas converged on the venue ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s annual January 8 statement. Bus and taxi loads of people were seen arriving at the stadium amid a high police presence. As distinguished guests and well known performers began arriving they received a rapturous applause and blast of vuvuzelas. Mkhonto We Zizwe veterans marched into the stadium with a yellow, green and black cake to celebrate the party’s 99th anniversary. Loud music, cheering and the blowing of vuvuzelas filled the stadium. File picture: Dumisani Sibeko \/ Independent Newspapers<\/em><\/p>\n Crowd size can be influenced by several factors, such as the location, weather, and the capacity of the venue.<\/p>\n But there is not always a direct relationship between the party president and the size of the crowd they draw during rallies.<\/p>\n The January 8 rally is a significant event in the ANC’s annual calendar, originating in 1972 to commemorate the party’s founding on January 8, 1912, in Bloemfontein.<\/p>\n Mangaung \u2014 <\/b>January 8, 2023: ANC supporters attend the ANC’s birthday celebration in Mangaung in the Free State where the January 8 statement was delivered. File picture: Itumeleng English \/ Independent Newspapers<\/em><\/p>\n The 2025 venue for the event is 41,000 seats fewer than the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga where the ANC held its birthday rally in 2024. Mbombela has a 43,000 capacity.<\/p>\n In 2023, the ANC held the celebrations at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein. This is a 22,000-seater stadium.<\/p>\n In comparison to Khayelitsha Stadium, even the party’s 2019 rally, which took place in 11 different KwaZulu-Natal regions, one of them being Ohlanga Institute, had more seats.<\/p>\n The ANC’s 2015 rally in Cape Town Stadium, which can hold 55,000 people, also had a far bigger seating capacity.<\/p>\n Speaking to the media at the stadium, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula expressed confidence that they will fill up until the stadium.<\/p>\n According to Mbalula, losing the May 29 national and provincial elections led to them holding the event in the Western Cape.<\/p>\n Another reason was that this would reconnect with the local community.<\/p>\n \u201cOur people did not come out in numbers to vote, coming here is to address that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n One of the reasons was the party did not have enough funds to bus people in from other provinces.<\/p>\n The Nelson Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Picture: Armand Hough \/ Independent Newspapers<\/em><\/p>\n Nelson Mandela<\/strong><\/p>\n Five years following talks between the National Party and the ANC, the January 8 declaration was released in 1990.<\/p>\n These were referred to as the “secret talks.” Additionally, the declaration came before Nelson Mandela’s February release from prison.<\/p>\n The January 8 declaration was primarily focused on nation-building under Mandela, concentrating on the pursuit of social harmony.<\/p>\n Thabo Mbeki<\/strong><\/p>\n The goal of former president Thabo Mbeki’s administration was to elevate the nation to a world-class level.<\/p>\n The January 8, 2007, statement with the topic “The year to intensify the struggle against poverty as we advance in unity towards 2012” made this clear.<\/p>\n This implied that the nation would not be impervious to global economic difficulties.<\/p>\n Jacob Zuma<\/strong><\/p>\n Zuma had been elected president of the ANC in December 2007. Zuma referred to January 8 as the year of popular mobilisation to create a caring society in his initial remarks.<\/p>\n His 2015 statement came 21 years after the nation’s first national elections following apartheid in 1994, and it also marked the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Charter.<\/p>\n Cyril Ramaphosa<\/strong><\/p>\n In his inaugural remarks in 2018, Ramaphosa referred to the year 2018 as “The Year of Renewal” as he considered Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday. Jobs and togetherness.<\/p>\n The nation’s accomplishments after 25 years of democracy were the subject of his second January 8 speech in 2019.<\/p>\n kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za<\/p>\n Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The size of the crowd at rallies with African National Congress (ANC) presidents over the years has once again become a subject of intense scrutiny and debate after the party announced it would use a 2,000-seater stadium for its January 8 celebrations in 2025. President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver his January 8 statement at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[14538,1285,7303,11491,7847,2203,9358,14869],"class_list":["post-227826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-politics","tag-anc039s","tag-crowd","tag-expectations","tag-january","tag-khayelitsha","tag-reflecting","tag-smaller"],"yoast_head":"\nMandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha<\/h2>\n
The different view of ANC presidents <\/h2>\n