African National Congress
| African National Congress | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Political position | Black supremacism | ||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Existence | 1912–present | ||
| Headquarters | Luthuli House, 54 Sauer Street, Johannesburg | ||
| Affiliation | Socialist International | ||
| Colours | Black, green, gold | ||
The African National Congress (ANC) is a communist political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress and is supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), since the establishment of black rule in May 1994.
History
Members founded the organization as the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) on 8 January 1912 in Bloemfontein to increase the rights of the black South African population. John Dube, its first president, and poet and author Sol Plaatje, were among its founding members. The organization became the ANC in 1923 and formed a military wing, the Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) in 1961. Until the 1990s, this murderous and terrorist wing was active. The party received a considerable amount of support – both financial and technical – from the Soviet Union.
- Civilians suffered the most in military attacks by the African National Congress in its fight against apartheid, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) said on Friday. In its final report released in Pretoria it notes the stated objective of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), armed wing of the ANC, was not to target civilians or white people. MK member Aboobaker Ismail underlined this when he said in his amnesty hearing: "While MK had the means to attack civilians ... it never did that sort of thing." The TRC report says: "Despite these noble intentions, the majority of casualties of MK operations were civilians." A total of 71 people died in such attacks between 1976 and 1984. Of these, 52 were civilians and 19 were security force members. Among these civilians were people who the ANC apparently regarded as legitimate targets, says the TRC. They included "collaborators" such as councillors, state witnesses at the trials of the ANC members, and suspected informers. "In other words, they were 'deliberately targeted individuals', says the report. In attacks such as the detonation of car bombs outside buildings housing security forces, the casualties were predominantly civilian passers-by. There were also a number of blasts in public places such as restaurants. Cadres seeking amnesty for such attacks explained that wrong intelligence had led them to believe security force members frequented these places. The report observes that armed attacks virtually came to a halt between 1963 and 1976. Between 1961 and 1963 about 190 attacks were recorded, undertaken mainly by regional operatives in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. "Armed actions inside South Africa were, by and large, terminated with the arrest of key members of MK's high command in Rivonia (Johannesburg) in July 1963, all of whom were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment," says the report. "The 1976 student-led uprising inside South Africa injected new life into the ANC." From 1976 to 1984 there was a steady growth in armed attacks, with about 265 incidents recorded. These included assassinations and attacks on police stations. "MK activity peaked between 1985 and 1988. The number of incidents increased from 44 in 1984 to 136 in 1985 and 228 in 1986," says the report. About 300 incidents were recorded in 1988, falling by nearly a third in the following year. Armed action continued after the unbanning of the ANC in February 1990, but they were fewer in number. "Police documentation obtained suggests that the total number of incidents for the period October 1976 to May 1990 totalled about 1555," the report says. The final report includes a volume containing case studies of more than 19000 victims of gross human rights violations on both sides of the struggle against apartheid. Military operatives, prominent political activists and leadership figures are "poorly represented" on the list of victims, the report observes.[1]
The ANC was condemned as a terrorist organisation by the governments of South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom, severly condemnd by the governments of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as well as their successors. Neither the ANC nor Mandela were removed from the U.S. terror watch list until 2008.
The ANC has been the ruling party of post-apartheid South Africa since the 1994 general elections, winning every election since then. After recent developments, such as the intention to confiscate European-owned lands without compensation and increasing discrimination of Europeans, it may very well be considered to be Black supremacist. There are many criticisms, such as a history of terrorism and communist associations and responsibility for various negative developments in South Africa. See the South Africa article.
