South Africa's leader Jacob Zuma promised more job opportunities for the country's black majority as the ruling party ANC celebrated its 105th anniversary on January 8, 2017, at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, near Johannesburg.

While addressing the crowd, Zuma expressed its optimism that the country's economy will achieve a 2.9 percent growth as forecast in 2017 despite facing a slow recovery. He added that the government had to take decisive steps to boost economic inclusions for black people.

The African National Congress, the ruling party since the end of white-minority rule in 1994, suffered from a declining support in the country's local elections last August. The party's support dropped 8 percent points to reach 54.5 percent. However, the party still gained control in South Africa's main cities such as Johannesburg, Pretoria, and port city Port Elizabeth, Bloomberg wrote.

Zuma himself is facing resignation calls voiced by some ANC senior members following the Constitutional Court's rule last March that he intentionally refused to repay taxpayers money spent on his private house. The campaign to topple him reached its momentum on November 2, 2016, when the anti-graft body released a report stating that the 74-year-old leader may have violated the code of ethics in a relationship with Gupta family. The report explained that the Guptas may have used its influence on Zuma's cabinet and got a special treatment as the family is linked with Zuma's son coal business.

The Democratic Alliance, the country's main opposition party stated that the poor election results show how South Africans have started losing trusts in ANC. Zuma's speech in the ANC anniversary indicated that he was unable to tackle the internal rifts within the party.

ANC will choose its next leader in December this year. The winner is likely to be the country's president when the election is held in 2019, as Aljazeera reported.

According to the country's constitution, Zuma must step down as his term ends in 2019 after serving as a president for two periods.