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ecognised as the ‘sole legitimate representative’ of the ‘oppressed people’ of SouthAfrica. 357 This last objective was by no means easy to attain, as the ANC competedamong African states with the splinter group, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)for this title. 358 This outward orientation, indeed placement of the ANC outside thekey arena where it was attempting to bring about change, had some impact on thesubsequent policies of the ANC in government, and resulted initially in greatdislocation for the Party regarding the type of foreign policy an ANC-ingovernmentwould pursue. Hence, while the organisation’s foreign policy had beenfine-tuned by the middle of the 1990s, the ANC itself had not given enoughthought to the nature of the external relations of a ‘normalised’ South Africanstate. 359Uncertainty over which policy direction to take – and significant identity-influencingfactors - derived from the party, national and international levels, as well ashistorical context.Party levelAt the party level, three distinct ideological traditions on international affairs havebeen noted: the liberal internationalist (1912-1960); the socialist/Marxist-Leninist/solidarist (1960-1993); and the neoliberal/pragmatic (1993 onwards). 360“While these paradigm shifts correspond to a chronological progression with onephase periodically succeeding the other, usually in response to external stimuli…inpolicy terms they overlap”. 361‘Liberal internationalism’ in the early years of theANC’s existence was conditioned by a domestic policy of peaceful petition of theSouth African government. The ANC was at this time still an elitist politicalassociation, with limited political goals. Failing to obtain opportunities to meet with357 Van der Westhuizen, “South Africa’s Emergence”, 440; Scott Thomas, “TheDiplomacy of Liberation: The ANC in Defence of Economic Sanctions”, in From Pariahto Participant: South Africa’s Evolving Foreign Relations 1990-1994, ed., Greg Mills(Johannesburg: South African Institute of International Affairs, 1994): 169. Emphasesadded.358 See Roger Pfister, “Gateway to international victory: the diplomacy of the AfricanNational Congress in Africa, 1960-1994”, Journal of Modern African Studies, 41, Issue 1,(2003), and Thomas, The Diplomacy of Liberation.359 Interview with Prof. Anthoni van Nieuwkerk, January, 2010.360 Graham Evans, Graham, “The End of the Rainbow,” The World Today (January1999): 10-12; James Hamill and Donna Lee, “A Middle Power Paradox? South AfricanDiplomacy in the Post-apartheid Era”, International Relations, 15, No. 4 (2001).361 Graham Evans, “South Africa’s Foreign Policy After Mandela: Mbeki and His Conceptof An African Renaissance”, The Round Table, 88, No. 352 (1999).156