Talk:African National Congress/Archive 1

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Archive 1

Expansion and Corrections to ANC History

Here are some notes that and suggested improvements that could be used to improve the ANC's history section on this article and others. Please let me know if this useful!

The early history of the ANC as it is currently written implies that it was radical from the very beginning with this (strongly worded) sentence: "The founding of the SANNC was in direct response to injustice against black South Africans at the hands of the government then in power."

This is a historical falsehood. The ANC did not transition to a radical movement until 1948 when the Afrikaner National Party began implementing Apartheid. In fact, the South Africa Act 1909 meant that blacks, coloreds in the Cape Colony we in principle were allowed to vote subject to the Cape Qualified Franchise. The requirements were based on education and wealth, and excluded all women (including whites). In reality, the number of blacks and coloreds who owned land and were sufficiently educated to meet these requirements meant that blacks were hardly represented at all.

It is also important to understand that there were two parties prior to 1948 that had once been part of a coalition. The more liberal United Party, represented English-speaking whites, and some coloreds and blacks, and the National Party representing the anti-British, very conservative Afrikaner nationalists that had fought the British in the Second Boer War. When South Africa allied with Britain during the Second World War it was an outrage to Afrikaners (NP) that they should fight for a people that had brutalized them (the British was among the first to use concentration camps) and their families.

After the Second World War, the NP appealed to the concerns of whites as Blacks began express a their political will. In the early 1930's Blacks were denied all representation but the UP hoped that in time Blacks would gradually assimilate into urban centers and be "civil" enough to be given equal representation. The 1948 election was decided in favour of Afrikaners were another matter entirely. Their ideology was incompatible with this idea and realizing a national identity had been a long cherished idea that they had fought two wars against the British for.

After 1948 election is when Apartheid really began through a wholesale racial segregation of society to preserve Afrikaner identity. This is when the ANC's struggle began though it would remain a passive resistance movement until 1960 when it was exiled and officially banned. After Mandela was elected head of the ANC national assembly in 1950 it became an active force in politics. Importantly it was committed to adhering to a principle of non-violence importantly was multi-racial and inclusive to other races as opposed to being African-centric.

Much can be said about the ANC's history after 1960 called the Year of Africa which was anticipated: "The wind of change is blowing through this continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact". The Sharpeville massacre was one such event, and made transformed the ANC into a revolutionary struggle. It was influenced by Mandela's Marxist-Leninist and inspired by other revolutionary governments like Fidel Castro's July 26th Movement in Cuba. After Sharpeville, the NP banned the ANC. In response the ANC formed, uMkhonto we Sizwe, a paramilitary wing co-founded by Mandela. It was designated a terrorist organization by South Africa and the United States government, and in subsequent years was involved itself in the Angola border war and the Mozambique civil war to undermine where it undermined the South African military presence in these regions.

In the context of the Cold War, as mentioned above, the ANC and internal government support for its cause was ambivalent because of its association and influences by communism. In 1987, Thatcher denounced the ANC as a "typical terrorist organization". Contemporary historians, debate the effect that the collapse of the Soviet Union had on forcing the Apartheid government to begin negotiating with the ANC in 1990.

As for the ANC's post-apartheid history something should be said about the ANC's social and economic policies. After three terms, something should be written to explain what the ANC has done since transitioning from a revolutionary to a governing party. The IMF has published surveys and reports that could be used: http://www.imf.org/external/country/ZAF/index.htm

Some things they note include, the ANC's relationship with China and the trade partnership it has formed. Policy measures with respect to labor legislation that has lessened South Africa's competitiveness in emerging markets, among others. I am not an economist but I think this important given the ANC's three terms in government, there should be some assessment.

197.87.172.12 (talk) 16:23, 26 July 2016 (UTC)

Editing the Article: New Sources

Hello everyone, I am working to edit this article to ensure a neutral viewpoint and remove citations that are from bad sources (such as biased sources). As the ANC is a fundamentally important institution in South Africa, this article needs to be stronger. I have removed all previous talk on this page, as the last talk occurred in early 2015. A big area of need is finding criticism of the ANC; as the only listed critiques are very recent, therefore that section reads like an attack on the ANC. If this section is going to remain I feel it should have a more comprehensive overview. Thanks so much :) Fritz1543 (talk) 00:56, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

"A big area of need is finding criticism of the ANC". I disagree with this; do not presume the need for criticism. This leads to confirmation bias and other cognitive biases that should be avoided. I agree however, that there is a lot of bias in South African news sources, that tend to sensationalize certain events. Finding independent sources is hard. Below, I referred to IMF reports that focus on economical aspects and have credibility internationally. Having read some of them they give balanced assessments based on the findings of data and how it is affected by government policy. In general, I think domestic sources should be mistrusted for having too many strong opinions on politics and should be correlated with what overseas sources say as well to avoid the problem you describe. 197.87.172.12 (talk) 16:42, 26 July 2016 (UTC)

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the secrecy bill

may you please explain to me as to what exactly is the secrecy bill? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.34.54.66 (talk) 23:37, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

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External links modified

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Should South Africa articles use "continental system" numbers?

A discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject South Africa#Should South Africa articles use "continental system" numbers? might impact this article one day. Although African National Congress isn't currently {{Use South African English}}, "strong national ties" per MOS:RETAIN could well force it.

I mention it here because this article has a lot of numbers. Batternut (talk) 09:54, 21 December 2017 (UTC)

The use of gaps for grouping thousands is popular, though using comma as the decimal mark is not. Batternut (talk) 20:29, 22 December 2017 (UTC)


To impose or not to impose gap-separation (1234567.8 in place of 1,234,567.8) upon existing articles is now the question, at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject South Africa#Should existing South Africa articles be changed to use gaps as thousands separators?. Batternut (talk) 20:29, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

Early end of history

The history section now stops at 1960. The uMkhonto we Sizwe subsection mentions some later events, including the integration of MK in the armed forces in 1994 and the failure of the US to remove the ANC from terrorism lists before 2008. No mention of the legalizing of the ANC around 1990 and its position as the main government party since 1994. Strange. Bever (talk) 14:47, 25 August 2018 (UTC)

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