BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The African National Congress, celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend, has been beset by political infighting and corruption allegations, observers say.
The centennial celebration of the ANC, which ended apartheid that once divided South Africa by race, is expected to draw 46 heads of state for closing festivities Sunday, CNN reports.
But Nelson Mandela, the ailing, 93-year-old former ANC leader and South Africa president, was not expected to attend. He has not been seen in public since the 2010 closing ceremonies for the World Cup in South Africa.
President Jacob Zuma said South Africa has an "overwhelming sense of pride" as it celebrates the 100th anniversary of the ANC, formed Jan. 8, 1912, in Bloemfontein, site of the three-day celebration.
The ANC movement, which became a political party, inspired protests against racism for years and took up arms against the apartheid government.
Mandela became president of the country in 1994 in its first all-race election, and the ANC has won every election since in a country where two decades ago black South Africans couldn't vote and weren't allowed to go to beaches, restaurants and schools reserved for whites.
But the ANC's transformation from an anti-apartheid organization to a political party has proved difficult as it struggles with factionalism and allegations of corruption.
"I would be surprised if the ANC doesn't split," Professor Steven Friedman of the Center for Democracy told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"There is a lot of factionalism; at some point, there has to be a showdown between the factions and the way it is going at the moment, the faction that wins tends to exclude the faction that loses from all the positions, so at that stage it will probably split."
While the movement against apartheid attracted many willing to make sacrifices for the cause, Friedman said, "It's now a governing party in a market economy, which means that there are lots of goodies to be gained from holding office."
Tokyo Sexwale, an ANC member, said the anniversary is a time for both celebration and self-examination for the party.
"These tensions are there at the ANC, we cannot deny them," he said. "This is the year that the ANC has got to say, 'Let's get a handle on this.'"
