The ANC’s 101st anniversary rally got off to a slow start at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, on Saturday (January 12 2013), with heavy rain overnight delaying the arrival of the party faithful. Many supporters from the townships started arriving from around 9am. Above: ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, president Jacob Zuma and treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize arrive for the celebrations. Pictures: Khaya Ngwenya/City Press

Thousands of ANC supporters in yellow T-shirts cheer and applaud as Zuma makes his way across the field.

ANC’s national executive committee members occupy the covered seating area on a large stage erected on the pitch ahead of the January 8 statement.

In the statement, Zuma called on South Africans to back his administration’s National Development Plan as a means of reducing inequality and poverty in South Africa.

“We call on the private sector to view the infrastructure programme as an opportunity to partner with our government for sustainable development and job creation,’’ Zuma said.

The ANC also committed itself to eliminate the legacies of apartheid during “the second phase of transition”.

Ramaphosa pops champagne at the end of the ANC rally in Durban. The ANC said there would be cake for the celebrations but those present will not be eating it. The cake will be donated to orphanages, old age homes and hospices in and around eThekwini.