Abstract

SCHOLTZ, Leopold  and  SCHOLTZ, Ingrid. The ANC/SACP in Angola: A case study in internal democracy. Historia [online]. 2009, vol.54, n.1, pp.211-238. ISSN 2309-8392.

The ANC/South African Communist Party (SACP) has always maintained that the purpose of their armed struggle was freedom and democracy. One way of testing this assertion is to investigate the alliance's practice of internal democracy during the years of exile. To this end, this article looks at the situation in MK's camps in Angola, the two armed uprisings in 1984, and Quatro punishment camp. Two paradigms for explaining the situation is analysed - the ANC saying that it was a result of the apartheid government's spying; and the dissidents stating that they simply wanted a democratic culture of accountability. The final conclusion is that while the ANC's explanation is not entirely off the mark, it remains a fact that the alliance's internal democracy left much to be desired.

Keywords : African National Congress (ANC); Angolan camps; armed struggle; democracy; South African Communist Party (SACP); Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

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