|
ANC in crisis
08/10/2008 14:13 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday the ruling ANC was close to a major split but stopped short of announcing a breakaway party.
He called for a special congress within four weeks of all
those opposed to the African National Congress's current
direction.
Here are some facts about the ANC:
Party splits
President Thabo Mbeki's resignation at the climax of a
power struggle with ANC leader Jacob Zuma marked the biggest
political upheaval in the history of the party.
Their rivalry had already plunged the party into crisis.
Mbeki sacked Zuma from the deputy presidency in 2005 after Zuma
was implicated in a corruption trial. Zuma was elected ANC leader on
December 18, 2007, defeating Mbeki.
Robert Sobukwe formed the Pan-Africanist Congress of
Azania (PAC) in 1959, breaking away from the ANC. The split took
place as Sobukwe pressed for South Africa to be returned to its
indigenous people. He accused the ANC of being contaminated by
non-African values.
Origins of the ANC
The South African Native National Congress was formed in
January 1912 in Bloemfontein, in response to legislation denying political rights to the black population.
It changed its name to the African National Congress in
1923. Its early leaders, black professionals, wanted a gradual
extension of the electoral franchise on the British model. The
party failed to moderate the race policies of successive white
governments.
Apartheid
The white Afrikaner National Party's election victory in
1948 heralded the systematic racial discrimination of apartheid,
prompting young radicals like Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu
to take over the leadership of the ANC.
The ANC backed the first systematic campaign against the
government in 1952, when thousands of blacks were arrested for
defying discriminatory laws. It organised the 1955 "Congress of
the People" which adopted the Freedom Charter, calling for a
non-racial democracy.
The apartheid government banned the ANC in March 1960
after the Sharpeville Massacre when 69 protesters were killed.
A new era:
The ANC helped stimulate international pressure on
Pretoria through sanctions, cultural and sporting boycotts and
diplomatic isolation.
A government decision in December 1989 to release seven
veteran ANC leaders including Sisulu was a sign the government
recognised it had to talk with its old adversary.
President FW de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC in
February 1990, and months later the movement suspended its
30-year-old armed struggle against white rule.
Nelson Mandela, serving a life sentence for conspiracy
and sabotage, was freed in 1990 after 27 years in jail and led
the ANC to victory in the first all-race election in 1994.
Mbeki replaced Mandela as head of the ANC in 1997, and
was elected South Africa's second black president in 1999. In
2002 Mbeki was re-elected as ANC leader for a further five
years, and led the party to victory in the 2004 election.
- Reuters
|
News
