The African National Congress (ANC)
has
been South
Africa's governing party.
Pin was made by PODRAVKA - KOPRIVNICA (today city in Croatia) in 1970's.
JUŽNA AFRIKA on Serbo-Craotian language mean SOUTH AFRICA.
VERY RARE PIN.
*****
African National Congress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The African National Congress (ANC) has been South
Africa's governing party, 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 non-racial democracy in April 1994.
It defines itself as a "disciplined force of the left".[2]
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 are 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.
It has been the ruling party of post-apartheid South
Africa on the national level since 1994. It gained support in the 1999 elections, and
further increased its majority in 2004, with 69.7% of
the votes. In 2009 its share of the
vote reduced slightly, but it remained the dominant party with 65.9% of
the votes.
History
The founding of the ANC follows nearly three centuries of oppression
of black South Africans by white South Africans and foreigners. It can
be said that the ANC had its origins in a pronouncement by Pixley ka
Isaka Seme who said in 1911 Forget all the past differences among
Africans and unite in one national organisation. The ANC was founded
in the subsequent year on 8 January 1912.
The government of the newly formed Union of South Africa began a
systematic oppression of black people in South Africa. The notorious
Land Act was promulgated in 1913. The effect of these antiblack laws was
to force black people from their farms into the cities and towns to
work, and to restrict their movement within South Africa. By 1919, the
ANC led a campaign against passes, and in 1929 the ANC supported a
militant mineworkers' strike.
The ANC became dormant in the mid-1920s. During that time, black
people were also represented by the ICU and the previously white-only
Communist party. By 1947, J.T. Gumende (president of the ANC) proposed
cooperation with the Communists in a bid to revitalise the organisation,
but he was voted out of power in the 1930s. This led to the ANC
becoming largely ineffectual and inactive, until the mid-1940s when the
ANC was remodelled as a mass movement.
- The ANC responded militarily to the attacks on the rights of black
people.
- The beginning of greater cooperation between African people,
Coloured and Indian people.
- 1944: Youth League (YL) (Nelson Mandela, Walter
Sisulu, Oliver Tambo). Their ideas were based on
African nationalism and they utilised this idea to involve masses into
military struggles.
- they gathered support among the new population
- program of action calling for strikes, boycotts and defiance
- the organisation was adopted by the ANC in 1949 and this led to a
later Defiance Campaign in the 1950s
- The Defiance Campaign was a mass movement of resistance to apartheid
- It encouraged further campaigns against apartheid laws.
- The government tried to stop them by banning party leaders and
enacting new laws to stop them; however, it was too late as the movement
had acquired too much power.
- Formation of new organisations such as SACPO and the COD.
- Congress of the people: this was a congress of all the people of
South Africa. They demanded a New South Africa and these ideas were
expressed in the Freedom Charter (26 June 1955).
- The government claimed that this was a communist's
document—consequently leaders of the ANC and Congress were arrested.
- 1955 Women's strike.
- Blacks and Whites brought together in the fight for justice and
democracy, consequently Africanists broke away from the ANC.
- The Sharpeville Massacre: this led to the end of the peaceful strike
and peaceful protests.
- ANC goes underground
- Many acts of sabotage.
- Military training for ANC members outside the country.
- 1969: A consultative conference at Morogoro led to four aspects of
all around struggle.
- Mass political struggle.
- Armed struggle.
- Building ANC underground structures within the country.
- Campaign for international support and assistance.
- Non-African membership of the ANC.
- As a result of banning the liberation movement the apartheid system
grew stronger again until 1970s.
- Students and Workers changed the face of South Africa.
- 1973 strike of workers in Durban.
- 1976 student anger exploded, ANC supported student struggles for
national liberation.
- New heights of liberation struggles came in the 1980s.
- People taking over the situation in communities, workplaces and at
schools etc.
- Strong demand for political power.
- 1976 reforms were introduced to apartheid for the first time.
- The government enacted new reforms and repressions and in hope that
this would win the hearts and minds of Blacks, but it led to even
greater resistance.
- Women Workers Students and Youths organisations make a major step
forward from 1985 when the state of emergency was called.[3]
Umkhonto we Sizwe
Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation"),
abbreviated to MK, was the military wing of the ANC. Partly in response
to the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, individual members of the ANC
found it necessary to resort to violence. Though some members of ANC's
leadership disagreed[citation needed], many
members within the organization decided that non-violent campaigns were
not working. Some few members of the ANC were not comfortable with the
MK arrangement[citation needed], but
individuals, such as Nelson Mandela, felt guerrilla warfare had to be
considered. In cooperation with the South African Communist Party,
MK was founded in 1961.[4].
Innocent people were gunned down in churches, people 'necklaced' and
bombs planted by this terrorist group.
] Ideology
The ANC deems itself as a force of national liberation in the
post-apartheid era; it officially defines its umbrella agenda as the National
Democratic Revolution. The ANC is a member of the Socialist International.[1]
It also sets forth the redressing of socio-economic differences
stemming from colonial- and apartheid-era policies which discriminated
against non-whites, such as land, housing and job distributions, as a
central focus of ANC policy.
The National Democratic Revolution (NDR) is described as a process
through which the National Democratic Society (NDS) is achieved; a
society in which people are intellectually, socially, economically and
politically empowered. The drivers of the NDR are also called the motive
forces and are defined as the elements within society that gain from
the success of the NDR. Using contour plots or concentric circles the centre
represents the elements in society that gain the most out of the success
of the NDR. Moving away from the centre results in the reduction of the
gains that those elements derive. It is generally believed that the
force that occupies the centre of those concentric circles in countries
with low unemployment is the working class while in countries with
higher levels of unemployment it is the unemployed. Some of the many
theoreticians that have written about the NDR include Joe
Slovo, Joel Netshitenzhe and Tshilidzi Marwala.[5][6][7]
Tripartite Alliance
The ANC holds a historic alliance with the South African Communist Party
(SACP) and Congress of South
African Trade Unions (COSATU), known as the Tripartite Alliance.
The SACP and COSATU have not contested any election in South Africa,
but field candidates through the ANC, hold senior positions in the ANC,
and influence party policy and dialogue. During Mbeki's presidency, the
government took a more pro-capitalist stance, often running counter to
the demands of the SACP and COSATU.[8][9][10][11]
2008 schism
Following Zuma's accession to the ANC leadership in 2007 and Mbeki's
resignation as president in 2008, the Mbeki faction of former ministers
led by Mosiuoa Lekota split away from the ANC to
form the Congress
of the People.
ANC flag
Flag of the African National Congress
The ANC flag is composed of three stripes – black, green and gold.[12]
The black represents the color of the people, the green the fertility
of the land and the gold represents the gold with
which the country is rich. This flag was also the battle
flag of the Umkhonto we Sizwe. The official party
flag also has the emblem of the party incorporated onto the flag.
Party list
Politicians in the party win a place in parliament by being on the Party
List, which is drawn up before the elections and enumerates, in
order, the party's preferred MPs. The number of seats allocated is
proportional to the popular national vote, and this determines the
cut-off point.
The ANC has also gained members through the controversial floor crossing process.
Although most South African parties announced their candidate list
for provincial premierships in the 2009 election, the ANC did not. It is
not required for parties to do so.[13]
Election results
Proportion of votes cast for the ANC in the 2009 election, by ward.
0–20%
20–40%
40–60%
60–80%
80–100%
| Election |
Votes |
% |
Seats |
| 2009 |
11,650,748 |
65.90 |
264 |
| 2004 |
10,880,915 |
69.69 |
279 |
| 1999 |
10,601,330 |
66.35 |
266 |
| 1994 |
12,237,655 |
62.65 |
252 |
Role of the ANC in
resolving the conflict
The ANC represented the main opposition to the government during
apartheid and therefore they played a major role in resolving the
conflict through participating in the peacemaking and peace-building
processes. Initially intelligence agents of the National Party met in secret
with ANC leaders, including Nelson Mandela, to judge whether conflict
resolution was possible.[14]
Discussions and negotiations took place leading to the eventual
unbanning of the ANC and other opposing political parties by then
President de Klerk on 2
February 1990. These initial meetings were the first crucial steps
towards resolution.
the next official step towards rebuilding South Africa was the Groote
Schuur Minute where the government and the ANC agreed on a common
commitment towards the resolution of the existing climate of violence
and intimidation from whatever quarter, as well as a commitment to
stability and to a peaceful process of negotiations. The ANC negotiated
the release of political prisoners and the indemnity from prosecution
for returning exiles and moreover channels of communication were
established between the Government and the ANC.
Later the Pretoria Minute represented another step towards resolution
where agreements at Groote Schuur were reconsolidated and steps towards
setting up an interim government and drafting a new constitution were
established as well as the symbolic suspension of the military wing of
the ANC – the Umkhonto we Sizwe. This represented a stop to direct
violence within South Africa. Another agreement that came out of the
Pretoria minute was that both parties would try and raise awareness that
a New Order was underway and that the violence must stop. However
violence still continued in Kwazulu-Natal, which violated the trust
between Mandela and de Klerk. Moreover internal disputes in the ANC
prolonged the war as consensus on peace was not reached.[15]
The next significant steps towards resolution were the Repeal of the
Population Registration Act – this meant no one could claim, or be
deprived of rights on the basis of racial classification, the repeal of
the Group Areas and the Native Land Acts and a catch-all Abolishment of
Racially Based Measures Act was passed.[15]
In December 1991 the Convention for a Democratic South Africa
(CODESA) was held with the aim of establishing a interim government.
However a few months later in June 1992 the Boipatong massacre occurred
and all negotiations crumbled as the ANC pulled out. After this
negotiations proceeded between two agents, Cyril Ramaphosa of the ANC, and Roelf
Meyer of the National Party. In over 40 meetings the two men
discussed and negotiated over many issues including the nature of the
future political system, the fates of over 40,000 current government
employees and how the country was going to be divided. Cyril Ramaphosa
dominated the negotiations, as he was far more apt at negotiation having
worked as union leader in the mines, than Roelf Meyer, who had been
unchallenged for the past three decades. The result of these
negotiations was an interim constitution that meant the transition from
apartheid to democracy was a constitutional continuation and that the
rule of law and state sovereignty remained intact during the transition,
which was vital for stability within the country. A date was set for
the first democratic elections on 27 April 1994.[15]
The ANC won 62.5% of the votes and has been in power ever since.[16]
Criticism
Party and state
conflict
In September 2009, the Provincial ANC in KwaZulu Natal was implicated
by the social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African Council of
Churches, the Anglican Archbishop, and over 1,000 members of civil
society in the coordinated attacks on Kennedy
Road informal settlement.[17][18][19][20]
MEC Willies Mchunu was heavily criticised for
arresting members of Abahlali baseMjondolo but allegedly not arresting
the people who perpetrated the attack. The KwaZulu Natal government has
refused to heed calls for an independent investigation into the violence
saying that the attack was the result of an illegitimate safety forum.[21][22][23][24]
Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have
supported calls for an independent inquiry into the violence.[25]
Controversy
over corrupt members
The most prominent corruption case involving the ANC relates to a
series of bribes paid to companies involved in the ongoing R55 billion Arms Deal saga, which resulted in a
long term jail sentence to former Deputy President Jacob
Zuma's legal adviser Schabir
Shaik. Zuma, now the State president, currently faces 7 813 charges
relating to alleged fraud, bribery and corruption in the Arms Deal.[26]
The ANC has also been criticised for its subsequent abolishment of the Scorpions, the multidisciplinary
agency that investigated and prosecuted organised crime and corruption,
and was heavily involved in the investigation into Zuma and Shaik.
Other recent corruption issues include the sexual misconduct and
criminal charges of Beaufort
West municipal manager Truman
Prince,[27]
and the Oilgate
scandal, in which millions of Rand in funds from a state-owned company
were allegedly funneled into ANC coffers.[28]
Links between factions in the ANC, specifically the ANC Youth League
leadership, and businessman Brett
Kebble gained media attention following Kebble's murder in
September 2005.
In December 2007 the ANC elected their new National
Executive Committee (NEC), the highest structure in the party. Out
of the 80 member committee, 9% are (post-apartheid) convicted criminals.
Most of these members have been convicted of fraud, while one member,
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was convicted of the kidnapping of a
14-year-old boy, James Seipei (1974–1988), also known as Stompie
Moeketsi (who was also murdered). According to an article in the Mail & Guardian, "by adding those who have been
disciplined or moved, and those with dark clouds of unanswered questions
hanging over their heads, the figure shifts to 29%."[29]
The ANC has also been accused of using government and civil society
to fight its political battles against opposition parties such as the Democratic Alliance. The
result has been a number of complaints and allegations that none of the
political parties truly represent the interests of the poor.[30][31]
This has resulted in the "No Land! No House! No Vote!" Campaign which
becomes very prominent each time the country holds elections.[32][33]
Controversy
over wasteful expenditure
The ANC has reportedly wasted over R1 billion of taxpayers' money
over the past eight months on luxury vehicles, expensive hotels,
banquets, advertising and other "wasteful expenditure"[34][35][36]
The main thrust behind this reporting is the official opposition in
the country, the Democratic Alliance (DA). They have kept a tally of the
expenditure called 'The Wasteful Expenditure Monitor'[37]
According to the DA[38],
this waste could have:
- Built 18 574 new RDP houses
- Fund 7775 teachers for a year
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