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Malema told a packed stadium that included President Jacob Zuma that the only way to free the country from poverty was to implement a programme of nationalisation.

“Nationalisation is the solution to the problems we are facing,” he said.
Malema took aim at big business, especially white business owners. “We cannot accept the economy being in the control of white males,” he said.

Earlier, President Jacob Zuma received a rousing welcome from supporters wearing yellow African National Congress T-shirts and blowing vuvuzelas.

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. Zuma’s annual statement is traditionally the start of the political year, where one can expect the president to detail what he expects the party to achieve.

On Friday night at a gala dinner of the Progressive Business Forum, Zuma said the party’s association with working movements and communists was nothing new.

The alliance between the ANC, workers and the Communist Party has been a subject of analysis and debate over many years. A Mkhonto We Sizwe veterans marched into the stadium with a yellow, green and black cake to celebrate the party’s anniversary.
Loud music, cheering and the blowing of vuvuzelas filled the stadium. — Sapa.