African National Congress (ANC)

South African political party and black nationalist organization. Founded in 1912 (as the South African Native National Congress), the ANC was long dedicated to the elimination of apartheid. In response to government massacres of demonstrators at Sharpeville (1960) and Soweto (1976), it carried out acts of sabotage and guerrilla warfare. The campaign was largely ineffective because of stringent South African internal security measures, including an official ban on the ANC between 1960 and 1990. In 1991, with the ban lifted, Nelson Mandela succeeded Oliver Tambo as ANC president. In 1994 the party swept the country's first elections based on universal suffrage; the ANC led a coalition government that initially included members of its longtime rival, the National Party, and Mandela became South Africa's president. In 1999 Thabo Mbeki replaced him as president of the ANC and of South Africa. In one of the most contentious leadership battles in the party's history, Jacob Zuma was selected to succeed Mbeki as ANC president in 2007. See also Inkatha Freedom Party; Albert Lutuli; Pan-African movement.