FACTBOX: What is the African National Congress?

(Reuters) - Former South African Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday the ruling ANC was close to a major split but stopped short of announcing a breakaway party.

He called for a special congress within four weeks of all those opposed to the African National Congress's current direction.

Here are some facts about the ANC.

* PARTY SPLITS:

-- President Thabo Mbeki's resignation at the climax of a power struggle with ANC leader Jacob Zuma marked the biggest political upheaval in the history of the party.

-- Their rivalry had already plunged the party into crisis. Mbeki sacked Zuma from the deputy presidency in 2005 after Zuma was implicated in a graft trial. Zuma was elected ANC leader on December 18, 2007, defeating Mbeki.

-- Robert Sobukwe formed the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) in 1959, breaking away from the ANC. The split took place as Sobukwe pressed for South Africa to be returned to its indigenous people. He accused the ANC of being contaminated by non-African values.

* ORIGINS OF THE ANC:

-- The South African Native National Congress was formed in January 1912 in the central city of Bloemfontein in response to legislation denying political rights to the black population.

-- It changed its name to the African National Congress in 1923. Its early leaders, black professionals, wanted a gradual extension of the electoral franchise on the British model. The party failed to moderate the race policies of successive white governments.

* APARTHEID:

-- The white Afrikaner National Party's election victory in 1948 heralded the systematic racial discrimination of apartheid, prompting young radicals like Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu to take over the leadership of the ANC.

-- The ANC backed the first systematic campaign against the government in 1952, when thousands of blacks were arrested for defying discriminatory laws. It organized the 1955 "Congress of the People" which adopted the Freedom Charter, calling for a non-racial democracy.

-- The apartheid government banned the ANC in March 1960 after the Sharpeville Massacre when 69 protesters were killed.

* A NEW ERA:

-- The ANC helped stimulate international pressure on Pretoria through sanctions, cultural and sporting boycotts and diplomatic isolation.