All welcome at ANC celebrations
2012-01-04 22:18
Bloemfontein - All South Africans, and people from the African continent and the world, were welcome to attend the African National Congress centenary celebrations in Mangaung, ANC chairperson Baleka Mbete said on Wednesday.
"They do not need accreditation."
Mbete said there was huge interest from people to attend the events.
"It was based on this interest that we would have no less than 100 000 people attending the event."
Mbete said Free State residents had responded positively to the event by opening up their homes to many South Africans who could not find accommodation.
ANC national executive members had started with their deployments in the Free State together with the provincial ANC leadership to mobilise communities to attend.
ANC deputy-secretary-general Thandi Modise said most of the visitors would be from the Free State.
The entertainment programme for the celebrations would start on Saturday, January 7, with an intercultural performance at the Mangaung Outdoor Sports Complex - which would continue until the close of the events.
Some of the artists who would perform there were Selaelo Selota, Ihashi Elimhlophe, Zahara, Bhudaza, Big Nuzz, L’vovo, Spikiri, 340ML, Tidal Waves and Hotstix Mabuza.
For Sunday’s main event in the Free State Stadium only 6 000 seats would be reserved for presidential dignitaries. The rest of the stadium would be for party supporters and those citizens interested in the January 8 speech of President Jacob Zuma, and the entertainment programme.
Other aspects of the centenary programme include two golf tournaments at the Bloemfontein and Schoemans Park courses on Friday.
Most of the party supporters from other provinces would start arriving by bus and trains on Sunday morning, for the main January 8 event.
- SAPA