Africa’s oldest organisation turns 103
JOBURG - Today, 8 January marks 103 years since the establishment of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912.
As part of the build-up to the celebrations to be held on 10 January at the Cape Town Stadium, members of the national executive committee led by the national leadership, including the organisation’s president Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (Msholozi – his praise name) will be marking the day in various communities in the Western Cape.
According to the organisation’s website, after the wars of resistance ended with the defeat of Bambata`s rebellion, Africans had to find new ways to fight for their land and their freedom. In 1911, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, a founder and president of the ANC, called on Africans to forget the differences of the past and unite together in one national organisation.
He said, “We are one people, these divisions, these jealousies, are the cause of all our woes today.”
On 8 January 1912, chiefs, representatives of people`s and church organisations, and other prominent individuals gathered in Bloemfontein and formed the African National Congress. The organisation declared its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms.
The ANC was formed at a time when South Africa was changing very fast. Diamonds had been discovered in 1867 and gold in 1886. Mine bosses wanted large numbers of people to work for them in the mines. Laws and taxes were designed to force people to leave their land. The most severe law was the 1913 land act which prevented Africans from buying, renting or using land, except in the reserves.
Many communities or families immediately lost their land because of this act. For millions of other black people it became very difficult to live off the land. The land act caused overcrowding, poverty and starvation.
At the 1991 national conference of the ANC, Nelson Mandela was elected president of the organisation. Oliver Tambo, who served as president from 1969 to 1991 was elected national chairperson. The negotiations initiated by the ANC resulted in the holding of historic first democratic elections based on one person one vote in April 1994.
The ANC won the elections with 62,6 percent of the more than 22 million votes cast. On 10 May 1994,Mandela was inaugurated as the president of South Africa. The ANC has been in power ever since.
