ANC Historical Documents Archive

Selected Historical Documents

EARLY HISTORY

• Class & Color in South Africa 1850-1950 - by Jack and Ray Simons
• "The Great Battle". The Story of African Resistance in 1879, Article from Sechaba, February 1979

1912 - 1960

This section contains a documents from the time of the formation of the ANC in 1912 until it was declared a 'banned organisation' in March 1960.

• Africans' Claims in South Africa, 1943
• ANC Youth League Manifesto, 1944
• Cable from Dr. A.B. Xuma, President-General of Anc, to the United Nations opposing South Africa’s proposal for Incorporation of South West Africa, January 1946
• Resolutions of the ANC Annual Conference, December 14-17, 1946
• "Three Doctors' Pact", 9 March 1947
• ANC Youth League Basic Policy Document, 1948
• Programme of Action Adopted at Annual Conference - December 1949
• Submissions of the African National Congress and the South African Indian Congress to the Select Committee to enquire into the separate Representation of Voters Act Validation and Amendment Bill, November 1953
• Resolutions of the ANC Annual Conference, Queenstown, December 18-20, 1953
• Anc message to the Asian-African Conference, Bandung - April 1955
• The Freedom Charter - 26 June 1955
• Resolutions of the ANC Annual Conference, Durban, December 16-19, 1954
• Petition Presented to Prime Minister, Union Buildings, Pretoria, 9 August 1956
• ANC Constitution - 1958
• Statement by the Emergency Committee of the African National Congress, April 1, 1960
• “Congress Fights On”; Statement by the ANC in African National Congress Voice, No. 1, April 1960
• Memorandum Submitted by the African National Congress to the 1959 Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the "Question of Race Conflict in South Africa Resulting from the Policies of Apartheid of the Government of the Union of South Africa"
• South Africa: The Peasants' Revolt, by Govan Mbeki

1960 - 1985

This section contains documents published from the time of the banning of the ANC in March 1960 until the ANC's Second National Consultative Conference in July 1985

• Resolutions of the All-In African Conference held in Pietermaritzburg - 25-26 March 1961
• Strategy and Tactics of the ANC - 1969
• The Rise of the South African Reich - book by Brian Bunting, 1969
• Morogoro Declaration - 1975
• Forward to Freedom - 1975
• Memorandum of the National Executive Committee of the ANC to the Government of Swaziland on the Agreement between Swaziland and the Pretoria Regime on Kangwane and Ingwavuma, 15 July 1982
• Stuart Commission Report - March 1984 Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Recent Developments in the People's Republic of Angola

1985 - 1990

This section contains documents from mid-1985 until the unbanning of the ANC in February 1990

• The Nature of the South African Ruling Class - June 1985
• From Ungovernability to People's Power - 1986
• The Illegitimacy of the Apartheid Regime... - Arusha Conference Statement, 1987
• Apartheid South Africa: Colonialism of a Special Type - 1987
• Advance to Power - 75 Years of Struggle - 1987
• Joint communiqués between the ANC and other South African organisations - 1986-1989

1990 - 1994

This section contains documents from February 1990, after the unbanning of the ANC, until 1994 when the ANC assumed power

• Advance to National Democracy - Guidelines on Strategy and Tactics - 1991
• Draft Worker's Charter - 1991
• ANC Constitution - 1991
• 'Ready to Govern' - Policy Guidelines for a Democratic South Africa - 1992
• ANC and the Bill of Rights - 1923-1993
• Basebenzi Pakamani - Struggle of the Working Class
• Skweyiya Commission Report, 1992. Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Complaints by Former ANC Prisoners and Detainees
• List of ANC Members who Died in Exile - March 1960 to December 1993

1994 - 1998

This section contains documents issued after the ANC assumed power in 1994. Although these documents are of recent origin they contain references to earlier periods

• ANC Strategy and Tactics - as adopted by the 49th National Conference - December 1994
• ANC Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission - August 1996
• ANC Second Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission - May 1997
• ANC Submission on Media to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission - September 1997
• ANC Submission to Special Truth and Reconciliation Commission Hearing on The Role of Business, November 1997
• ANC Strategy and Tactics as adopted by the 50th National Conference - December 1997
• ANC submission to the TRC in reply to the TRC's "Findings on the ANC" - October 1998

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Last modified: 31 August, 2006