Clarity of purpose enabled the ANC to craft messages that resonate with the aspirations of its main constituency. Its manifestos were premised on the “liberation of blacks in general and Africans in particular”.
There was never a doubt that political liberation would be meaningless without economic power. The longest-serving president of the ANC, Oliver Reginald Tambo, was unwavering. Addressing the SACP anniversary meeting in London in 1981, Tambo argued: “It is inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without a return of the wealth of the country to the people as a whole. To allow the existing economic forces to retain their interests intact is to feed the roots of racial supremacy and exploitation and does not represent even the shadow of liberation. It is
