IN QUOTES | Ramaphosa says ANC has more than nine lives and will always land on its feet

Like a cat, the ANC will always land on its feet, according to party leader President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa was addressing an ANC regional meeting in Bojanala, Rustenburg, on Monday.

The visit was part of the national working committee's visit to the North West. It comes after the party secured most of the 95 wards contested across the country in the recent by-elections.

The party won 70 wards. It retained 64 wards which it won in the 2016 by-elections and won six more.

Here are quotes from Ramaphosa's address.

By-election proves ANC is loved

“The by-elections were clear proof the ANC is still loved by the people. It's where we have to show them who the boss is, that the ANC leads and unites our people.”

Similarities between a cat and the ANC

“The ANC is like a cat. If you throw it from many storeys up, it will always land on its feet. We are like that. We've got many lives. We don't only have nine lives. We have many lives and will always land on our feet because we are the ANC.”

A united party

“We must stop the squabbles among us, the fighting for positions, the fighting for material benefits. Financial benefits must end comrades. We must become a united ANC prepared and willing to serve the people of our country.”

Constructive criticism

“When mistakes are made, we can’t just say, ‘These are my comrades, I won’t say anything.' We must give constructive criticism and sit our comrades down and say 'you’ve made mistakes here and there'.”

New system to get rid of gatekeepers

“With the past system, there was a lot of gatekeeping where some people were prevented from joining the ANC. That is a thing of the past. If you are a gatekeeper, you no longer have a job. The membership is managed on the cloud system. It gets rid of the bad practices of the past.”