uMkhonto weSizwe
Armed wing of the African National Congress / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
uMkhonto weSizwe (Xhosa pronunciation: [um̩ˈkʰonto we ˈsizwe]; abbreviated MK; English: Spear of the Nation) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government.[1]
uMkhonto weSizwe | |
---|---|
Founder | Nelson Mandela |
Leaders | |
Dates of operation | 1961–1993 |
Merged into | SANDF |
Allegiance | ANC SACP |
Ideology | |
Political position | Left-wing |
Allies | Algeria Angola Cuba Libya Palestine Liberation Organisation Mozambique United Arab Republic Zimbabwe |
Opponents | South Africa Rhodesia |
Battles and wars | Angolan Civil War South African Border War Rhodesian Bush War Internal resistance to apartheid |
Designated as a terrorist group by | South Africa |
After warning the South African government in June 1961 of its intent to resist further if the government did not take steps toward constitutional reform and increase political rights, uMkhonto weSizwe launched its first attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. It was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African government, and banned.[2]
For a time it was headquartered in Rivonia, then rural but now an affluent suburb of Johannesburg. On 11 July 1963, 19 ANC and uMkhonto weSizwe leaders, including Arthur Goldreich and Walter Sisulu, were arrested at Liliesleaf Farm, Rivonia. The farm was privately owned by Arthur Goldreich and bought with South African Communist Party and ANC funds, as non-whites were unable to own a property in that area under the Group Areas Act. This was followed by the Rivonia Trial, in which 10 leaders of the ANC were tried for 221 militant acts designed to "foment violent revolution". Wilton Mkwayi, chief of uMkhonto weSizwe at the time, escaped during trial.
The organisation was formally disbanded in a ceremony at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Gauteng, on 16 December 1993, although the armed struggle had been suspended earlier, during the negotiations to end apartheid.[3]