African National Congress

January 8, 2006, marked the 94th anniversary of the founding of the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC). The ANC (the first nonethnic organization in South Africa) was formed on January 8, 1912, in Bloemfontein. This took place against the background of the 1910 formation of the Union of South Africa, which expressly excluded the African people from the political system. For a number of years after its formation, the ANC adopted nonviolence strategies in an attempt to persuade the government to accommodate African political aspirations. In later years, however, economic development—and rapid industrialization in particular—led to the emergence of nascent forms of militant resistance to white rule.

From the outset, the ANC proclaimed its commitment to nonracialism; that is, it viewed the peoples of Africa as one, regardless of skin color. Throughout the early years, the ANC had clung to this commitment. It always advocated a multinational union, insisted on a nonracial principle as being the only solid foundation for sound government of the society, and never sought black domination of the state. The African workers' strikes influenced a change in class composition of the ANC leadership, with the scale being tilted in favor of the workers. The repression of African workers during strikes and the rise in political consciousness accounted for the formation of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in the 1940s and led to the ANC's adoption of a militant program of action in the beginning of the 1950s.

In political terms, the 1950s were characterized by mass defiance campaigns, the drafting of the Freedom Charter at Kliptown in 1955, the anti-pass laws demonstration, and the treason trial of anti-apartheid activists. This position can clearly be seen in the ANC's 1956 endorsement of the Freedom Charter, drafted by the Congress of the People the previous year in Kliptown. The Charter served as a beacon for ANC future activities and declared that South Africa belonged to all who lived in it, black and white.

The ideological stance as stipulated in the Charter further allowed the ANC to work and cooperate with other nonblacks; this can clearly be seen in the alliance in which the ANC linked up with Coloreds and Indians. Moreover, the fact that the ANC never believed in black exclusivity in the fight for black emancipation allowed the ANC to cooperate with white-dominated groups, such as the communists, and certain white liberals who were sympathetic to their cause.

From its establishment in 1912 until the Sharpeville shootings and its subsequent banning in 1960, the ANC advocated nonviolent tactics in its struggle. However, two differing strategies can be identified even within this period. Until World War II, the ANC was pledged to constitutional protest, such as negotiation, petitions, and deputations. The policy during this period was characterized by cooperation and compromise with the government, as the party believed it could bring about change through the education and enlightenment of the whites in power.

The Sharpeville shootings of 1960 and the banning of the ANC demonstrated the failure of peaceful tactics. The ANC, in exile and at home, adopted a policy of armed struggle under the banner of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), which was set up in 1961 to carry out the sabotage campaign. However, by 1963 the MK was smashed by government security forces followed by the arrests and imprisonments of most of its leadership. The ANC was convinced of the need for armed guerrilla warfare, a strategy it remained faithful to until the negotiations and eventual overthrow of the apartheid regime in the 1990s.

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