ANC opens its first conference inside South Africa in 31 years

The National Consultative Conference began in Johannesburg after the ANC’s unbanning and drew representatives from branches, MK, the Women’s League, the Youth League, COSATU, the SACP and the UDF. It addressed rebuilding the ANC as a legal mass organisation and the conditions for negotiations. Oliver Tambo had returned the day before after three decades in exile. The conference marked organisational re-entry into public life, while negotiations and mass pressure continued in parallel.