SOUTH AFRICAN President Jacob Zuma acknowledged yesterday that his country and the governing ANC face problems.

In his opening speech to the party’s policy conference in Johannesburg, Mr Zuma said the country was in a “difficult period economically,” having entered a “technical recession.”

He pledged to “reignite growth” through the series of five-year national development plans.

And the president hailed more than two decades of progress since the first democratic elections in 1994, with more jobs created, welfare extended to 18 million people and the emergence of a booming black middle class.

But he warned of “resistance to socio-economic transformation,” predicting: “The ANC will continue to experience resistance to its progressive policies relating to employment equity, broad-based black economic empowerment, labour market regulation and land reform.”

Mr Zuma also acknowledged that there were divisions in the ANC, blaming “negative tendencies which have caused frustration and disillusionment.”

The “101 veterans” faction, backed by the South African Communist Party and union federation Cosatu, has called for the president’s resignation ahead of December’s ANC conference to elect new leaders as the party’s current top brass is tainted by corruption claims and shady links to big business.

He said the movement must return to its roots among the people and its history of building a broad front for the “cause of humanity.”

Mr Zuma quoted late ANC president Oliver Tambo, who warned: “It is actually more difficult to keep the power than to wage a liberation war.”