It becomes an absurdity to try and capture 110 years of the history of the ANC in one installment. However, a large chunk of ANC history that accounts for its contemporary state is possible.

One of the aspects of the ANC’s history as a liberation Struggle formation is wrestling with the contradictions generated by its membership of the Congress Alliance, particularly its relationship with the South African Communist Party (SAPC). This year marks 70 years since the ANC entered into a formal alliance with the SACP, the Congress of Democrats (COD), the Natal Indian Congress, the Transvaal Indian Congress, the Coloured People’s Organisation and existing formations of the labour movement. It is at this stage that the ANC assumed its “broad church” status...