African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday night that the party's main focus in 2021 is to defeat COVID-19 and rebuild economy.

Ramaphosa made the remarks while addressing the 109th founding anniversary of the ANC.

The celebrations were held virtually because of COVID-19.

"In this year of 2021, our foremost priorities as ANC are to firstly act together with all South Africans to defeat coronavirus, secondly to place our economy on a path of renewal and recovery," he said.

"Thirdly we must this year forge ahead with the fundamental renewal of the ANC. Fourthly, We must work to build a better Africa and a better world. Despite the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we must intensify our contribution to Africa's development and to building a more just and more peaceful global order," said Ramaphosa.

He called on the party members to unite to fight corruption and malfeasance, adding that people have given his party the mandate to govern and they should do so ethically with accountability.

"The ANC must win public confidence by progressively meeting the needs of the people, accounting to communities, deploying the most capable cadres to positions of responsibility, managing public resources ethically and acknowledging weaknesses," he said.

He called on the party members to return to the founding values and principles of the party of putting the people first, selflessness, discipline, unity, respect and service to the people.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe said the party received messages of support from fraternal parties like the Communist Party of China, Namibia's SWAPO, Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF and Mozambique's FRELIMO, among others.

ANC was founded in 1912 and waged the war of liberation with other alliance partners. It has been in power since 1994, the year in which South Africa transitioned from apartheid to democracy.