ON January 8, 2012, the African National Congress (ANC), the oldest national liberation movement on the African continent, celebrated its centenary. This historic milestone is a remarkable achievement. From its inception the ANC was deeply committed and fiercely determined to unite the African people across tribal, ethnic, provincial and class differences and divisions.
　　Pixley ka Isaka Seme, a prominent leader and president of the ANC from 1930-36, declared in 1912,“Chiefs of royal blood and gentlemen of our race, we have gathered here to consider and discuss a scheme, which my colleagues and I have decided to place before you. We have discovered that in the land of their birth, Africans are treated as hewers of wood and drawers of water. The white people of this country have formed what is known as the Union of South Africa - a union in which we have no voice in the making of laws and no part in their administration. We have called you, therefore, to this conference, so that we can together devise ways and means of forming our national union for the purpose of creating national unity and defending our rights and privileges.” (The Thinker, Volume 36/2012)
　　For 100 years this has been a guiding principle for the ANC. The worst forms of colonialism, imperialism, national oppression, racism and super-exploitation of labor power have blighted the history of South Africa and Africa. From 1948 to 1992 the policy and practices of apartheid subjected black people in general and Africans in particular to extreme forms of racism and tyrannical white minority rule. The United Nations declared apartheid “A crime against Humanity.”
　　The history of the ANC is intimately linked to the anticolonial, anti-imperialist struggle in South Africa and the African continent, the fight against racism throughout the world and for world peace and security. Internationalism and international solidarity is an integral part of ANC policy and practice.
　　Since the discovery of gold and diamonds, over 130 years ago, South Africa has developed a highly politically conscious and well organized working class. But due to the privileges accorded to white workers the working class was racially polarized and divided.
　　For the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP), founded in 1921, the inter-connection and interaction of the national and class struggles guided and determined their theoretical and ideological positions. African workers were subject to national oppression, gender discrimination and class exploitation. The resistance history of the country is written in the blood of many thousands of workers who were brutally treated, imprisoned, tortured and killed. 　　This interaction of the class and national struggles gave birth to the powerful alliance between the ANC, SACP and trade union movement. For the ANC the working class remains the main motive force for revolutionary change and transformation. As President Zuma said in an interview in The Thinker, Volume 35/2012, “Definitely, the working class has to play the central role. Within the alliance the SACP and the Congress of South African trade Unions(COSAtU) seek to articulate and represent working class ideology and interests. The ANC is a broad church and is multi-class in character and composition. Nevertheless the role, place and function of the working class within the ANC are paramount. In South Africa by virtue of being black you were denied the opportunity to participate in the main economy. In that sense you had to open up the economy to enable blacks across the spectrum to participate, actively, in the first economy. The ANC remains a disciplined force of the left and is aligned to the working class and the poor.
　　In its quest for national liberation, freedom and democracy, the revolutionary movements received the unstinting support and solidarity of the international community. The anti-apartheid movement remains one of the most powerful international solidarity movements in world history.
　　The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) played a prominent role in offering all-round material, moral and political support to the resistance movements. today the relations between the CPC and the ANC and SACP are based on mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs and mutually beneficial economic and trade relations.
　　


　　At the time when the PRC was unlawfully prevented from assuming its rightful place in the Security Council of the UN, the ANC, SACP and other progressive forces in South Africa, fully supported the demand for the PRC to be recognized as the sole representative of the Chinese people. Then and now the ANC and its allies follow a one-China policy. Since 1990 the ANC and SACP have received many high level delegations to its congresses and other events from the CPC and China. In turn the ANC and SACP have sent many delegations to China including to the CPC Party schools. today the two countries enjoy mutually reinforcing economic trade and investment links, share common positions on a number of international challenges and issues and are a part of the BRICS. 　　At present the ANC, which has been in power since 1994, is facing an internal crisis. The ANC itself has published numerous conference documents commenting on and analyzing this crisis. The internal upheavals and crisis is occasioned by a number of factors. to highlight a few:
　　The abuse of power and authority by some ANC members and public representatives to amass illgotten wealth and resources leading to corruption in the public and private sectors.Unfortunately, today, a number of people join the ANC and SACP to promote their own individual selfish interests. The collective interests are giving way to the promotion of individual interests.
　　Electoral contests at local, provincial and national levels now dominate the work of many structures of the organization.
　　The complex challenges are confronting a ruling party in the transition from an authoritarian system to an open, transparent and democratic society.
　　The relationship between party and state in the context of an emerging bureaucratic bourgeoisie.
　　South Africa and the progressive world need the input and involvement of a strong, vibrant, united and coherent ANC, an ANC that, as in the past, defends and promotes the interests and aspirations of the poor, the marginalized, the working people, the middle strata and world peace, justice and security.
　　Despite the inner crisis the ANC contains sufficient healthy forces and dedicated cadres who are driven by the greater good and not greed. In the run up to the national conference, in December 2012, the ANC is going to confront fierce internal battles for leadership positions. Those who know the ANC, however, remain confident that the ANC will come out of this ordeal stronger and healthier.
　　(The author is the former Minister in the Presidency of Republic of South Africa and editor of The Thinker magazine)