From 1994-1999 Nelson Mandela was the president of South Africa, a tim

Dear Abhishek009,

I'm happy to respond. This is a relatively straightforward SC question, a question about a truly great man, Nelson Mandela.

Split #1: One of the big ideas of this question involves SVA with collective nouns. The collective noun "the African National Congress" is presented as singular: it may have many many members, but it is presented as singular. This requires a singular verb. Choices (A), (B), and (E) all use "were," which is incorrect. We can eliminate those three choices on the basis of the SVA error.

That leaves us with (C) & (D). Choice (C) brutally changes the meaning. It is one thing to say that the ANC was "the ruling party," and it is quite another thing to say that the ANC "ruled" the country. In a parliamentary system, whichever party has either a majority of members in the parliament or a majority coalition is the "ruling party," and this party chooses a head of state and/or a head of government, and in some combination these two people could be said to "rule" the country. I would say that anyone taking the GMAT should be familiar with at least the outlines of a parliamentary system.

That leaves (D). Aside from possible confusion over the changed meaning in (C), I would say this is a relatively easy SC question. Three answers can be eliminated instantly on a one-trick pony. I think this falls short of the bar of official SC questions, and the difficulty level rivals some of the easiest in the OG.

Let me know if anyone has any questions.
Mike