The African National Congress and the South African Communist Party Essay

The African National Congress and the South African Communist Party - Essay Example The relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party was not always close, especially in the periods starting 1940 to 1950, when the ANC started considering the SACP as a party advancing foreign ideology (SAHO, n.d. web.) . This feeling strongly emanated after Nelson Mandela made a tour throughout Africa, meeting various leaders from different countries in the African continent, whose countries had achieved independence by then (Mandela, 2008 p49). The African leaders perceived the communist ideology, as advocated for by the SACP as anti-African, and more of a foreign ideology, which was perceived to be incongruent with the African ideology of democracy and total independence from the colonialists. Therefore, most of the African leaders were confused by the association of the ANC with the SACP, which they considered unusual, since the SACP was constituted by most foreigners, and its ideologies were not perceived as purely African (Mandela, 2008 p102). Another issue that strained relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party is its perceived relations with the USSR. Most of the members of the ANC were highly skeptical about working with the SACP, due to the fact that it was not regarded as based on the African ideology, thus raising concerns among the members of the ANC regarding how the other African countries would perceive the working relationship between the ANC and the SACP.... Another issue that strained relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party is its perceived relations with the USSR. Most of the members of the ANC were highly skeptical about working with the SACP, due to the fact that it was not regarded as based on the African ideology, thus raising concerns among the members of the ANC regarding how the other African countries would perceive the working relationship between the ANC and the SACP. Secondly, there was the issue of concern regarding how the western countries would relate with South Africa, through the consideration of the working relationship between the ANC and the SACP, which was perceived to be USSR oriented, thus creating suspicion that the western countries would not want to work with such a party. Such members of the ANC suspected that the western countries would withdraw their support for South Africa, due to its association with communism (Mandela, 2008 p87)2. Thus, some members of th e ANC would cause conflict, to ensure that the two parties did not work together. Therefore, there has been a long deal of strained relationship between the ANC and the SACP, which ranges from the liberation struggle period, to the post-independence and modern day relationship. Nevertheless, the relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party has not always been strained and suspicious. There are times when the two parties have had long periods of cordial working relationships, both in the liberation struggle period, and the post-independence period. The cordial and strong positive relationship between the African National Congress and the South African Communist