48th National Conference of the African National Congress

48th National Conference of the African National Congress

2–7 July 1991 (1991-07-02 – 1991-07-07) 1994 →
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2,244 party delegates
Candidate Nelson Mandela Popular vote Unopposed
President before election Oliver Tambo Elected President Nelson Mandela

The 48th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) took place from 2 to 7 July 1991 at the University of Durban–Westville in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal).^[1] It was the first national conference of the ANC since the organisation was banned by the apartheid government in 1960 and marked the ascension of Nelson Mandela to the ANC presidency, which since 1967 had been held by Oliver Tambo.

Notably, the conference elected trade unionist Cyril Ramaphosa as secretary general, and elected several United Democratic Front leaders to the ANC National Executive Committee. That shift was taken as reflective of the ongoing broadening of the membership base of the ANC, which since 1990 had begun to re-establish legal structures inside South Africa. This entailed integrating the ANC's headquarters, formerly based in exile, with the ANC's internal underground and recently released political prisoners (such as Mandela), but also entailed incorporating other elements of the internal struggle against apartheid. The conference adopted a new constitution for the organisation, although a proposal by the ANC Women's League to inscribe gender quotas was, controversially, withdrawn.

Held under the theme "People's Power for a Democratic Future", the conference took decisions regarding the organisation's policy in the ongoing negotiations to end apartheid, including the decision to maintain the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, in a state of combat readiness. Delegates to the conference also formulated preliminary policy proposals for a post-apartheid government in South Africa. Indeed, in the three years between the 48th National Conference and the next in 1994, the ANC won a majority in the country's first democratic elections and formed a government under Mandela as national president.