African National Congress

South African political party, founded in 1912 as a multiracial nationalist organization with the aim of extending the franchise to the whole population and ending all racial discrimination. Its president from 1997 is Thabo Mbeki.

The ANC was banned by the government from 1960 to January 1990. Talks between the ANC and the South African government began in December 1991 and culminated in the adoption of a non-racial constitution in 1993 and the ANC's agreement to participate in a power-sharing administration, as a prelude to full majority rule. In the country's first universal suffrage elections in April 1994, the ANC won a sweeping victory, capturing 62% of the vote, and Nelson Mandela was elected president. The ANC also won a majority in South Africa's first democratic local government elections in November 1995, when it won 66.3% of the vote.

The ANC won 66% of the vote in the country's second non-racial election in June 1999, but fell just short of a two-thirds majority in parliament. The ANC government secured the coveted two-thirds majority needed to change aspects of the South African constitution by making a deal with a small Indian-led party. Through a coalition agreement with the Minority Front, the ANC secured the single extra seat it needed after the national election, taking it to 267 seats out of 400.

Although originally non-violent, in exile in Mozambique from 1960 the ANC developed a military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, which engaged in sabotage and guerrilla training.

The armed struggle was suspended in August 1990 after Mandela's release from prison and the organization's headquarters were moved from Zambia to Johannesburg.

Its vice-president from 1991 is Walter Sisulu. Former ANC leaders include Solomon Plaatje, Albert Luthuli, and Oliver Tambo. Several imprisoned leaders were released in October 1989, Mandela in February 1990. Chris Hani was leader of the military wing from 1987 until his assassination in 1993. In October 1992, accusations of inhumane treatment of prisoners held in ANC camps outside South Africa led Mandela to institute an inquiry and promise an end to such abuses. The ANC's successes in constitutional negotiations from 1991 were seen as a threat by Inkatha and by white, right-wing politicians, and during the early 1990s fighting between supporters of the ANC and Inkatha left hundreds dead.