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Former president Jacob Zuma says although he is now a pensioner, he still has the energy to be "sent" by the party.
"I said it before that when I'm no longer the president, I'll be ready to be sent anytime," Zuma said in isiZulu on Friday at the KwaZulu-Natal ANC's Mama Albertina Sisulu Senior Citizens Wellness Day in KwaMashu, north of Durban.
"The provincial chair [Sihle Zikalala] came to me and told me the party was now sending me. I'm here because I've been sent. I'm a volunteer.
"It doesn't matter where or what time you send me, I'll be there."
Zuma told the crowd that the government must take care of pensioners.
"I'm now also one of the pensioners. I want to feel good about being a pensioner. We must take care of the pensioners and we should not make them feel isolated. That's why government must do everything in its power to make the pensioners' lives better," Zuma said.
KwaZulu-Natal's Cuban-trained doctors, health workers and nurses were at the event to conduct medical check-ups on the elderly.
'It's nice to be part of the ANC'
"The ANC is here to screen you in order to prevent diseases from attacking you. I feel happy today because our party is giving us hope that it will take care of us and make us happy. I'm happy to have such great leaders who care about the people. As someone who lives through pension, I also feel at home. It's nice to be part of the ANC," he said.
Zuma added that the ANC could send pensioners like himself to talk to other pensioners.
"They can send us as pensioners to visit other pensioners to discuss pension issues. We will not fail," he said.
Zuma also told the gathering that the ANC decided to celebrate the centenary of ANC "elders" Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu this year because they played an important role in shaping young people.
"We took this decision in order to find a way to always remember elders because you're an adult today because you were raised by elders. I was also raised by my granny and my mother. As nowadays I'm beginning to be called a veteran, I was mentored by older leaders like Madiba, [Oliver] Tambo and [Albert] Luthuli.
"We should not forget them because if we do, it means we have forgotten about the revolution itself. How would you know where you come from and where you're going when you forget about the elders?" he asked.
He said Mandela and Sisulu were good examples in the country and the world.
"We are doing this to remember them and that's why we don't want the ANC to fail or its power to decline," he said.
On Friday, Zuma also filed an application in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, seeking a permanent stay of prosecution in his corruption trial.
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