uMkhonto weSizwe
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]
This article is about the former military wing of the ANC. For the political party, see uMkhonto weSizwe (political party).uMkhonto weSizwe
1961–1993
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]
Domestic campaign[edit]
1960s–1970s[edit]
In June 1961, Mandela sent a letter to South African newspapers warning the government that a campaign of sabotage would be launched unless the government agreed to call for a national constitutional convention.[11] Beginning on 16 December 1961, the campaign by uMkhonto weSizwe with Mandela as its leader, was launched, with bomb attacks on government targets and planned for possible guerrilla warfare.[12] The first target of the campaign was an electrical substation. uMkhonto weSizwe undertook other acts of sabotage in the next eighteen months. The government alleged more acts of sabotage had been carried out and at the Rivonia Trial the accused would be charged with 193 acts of sabotage in total.[13] The sabotage included attacks on government posts, machines and power facilities, and crop burning.[11]
Opinions in the ANC were divided on the viability of the ANC launching a military campaign and for this reason MK did not immediately publicly associate itself with the ANC. Initial attacks were "characterised by their simplicity": reflecting the Africans' lack of military training and the fact the whites had not seen service, in most cases, since the Second World War. The state responded with laws that allowed detention without trial and an unlimited power to ban organisations, and also by establishing military and civilian intelligence organisations.[14]
MK planned a campaign called "Operation O Mayibuye", or "Operation Mayibuye", from Liliesleaf Farm, where they met in secret.[15][16]
In 1962, Mandela went to Algeria, Egypt, and Ghana to get international backing for the group. [17]
In December 1962, Looksmart Ngudle and Denis Goldberg helped to organise a training camp held at Mamre, outside Cape Town, later recognised as the first MK training centre inside South Africa; however it had to be abandoned early due to Security Police interest.[18]
A lack of familiarity with the necessities of covert military work and the reliance on high-profile figures (such as Mandela) as leaders contributed to the South African state's ability to capture the organisation's leadership at their Rivonia headquarters outside Johannesburg at the end of 1962: effectively neutralisation of MK within South Africa for the next decade. However the organisation had established itself—and its key relationship as a disciplined part of the ANC—and did not disappear.[14]
The early 1970s were a low point for the ANC in many ways, including in the military sphere. Attempts to rebuild uMkhonto weSizwe inside South Africa resulted in many losses, although, as noted by the Military History Journal, some members, including Chris Hani, were able to remain undetected for a long period. Meanwhile, MK cadres had access to a growing range of military training opportunities in Algeria, Egypt and the Soviet Union and other communist-bloc countries.
The Soweto uprising of 1976 led to a large exodus of young black men and women. Anxious to strike back at the apartheid regime, they crossed the border to Rhodesia to seek military training. While uMkhonto weSizwe were able to rebuild an army—one capable of attacking prestigious targets such as the refineries at Sasolburg.
On 24 February 1977, a bomb exploded at the Daveyton Police Station, causing only superficial damage.[19] On 14 December, guerrillas attacked the Germiston police station.[20] On 10 March 1978, a bomb exploded outside the offices of the Bantu Affairs building in Port Elizabeth, killing one civilian and wound three others.[21] On 21 August 1978, B. Mayeza, personnel member of the Bureau of State Security was shot dead in Umlazi, Durban. On 9 December 1978, an explosive blast severely damaged the Soweto Community Council building.[22][23][24]
In 14 January, seven members clashed with SAP (South African Police) near Zeerust, one member was captured, others escaped over Botswana border.[24][25] On 23 January, an explosion damaged the railway near New Canada, Gauteng.[24][26] The next day, a large quantity of explosives on the line were found and defused, between Fort Beaufort and King William's Town, Eastern Cape.[24][27] In February, Sergeant Benjamin Letlako, a Police Special Branch member, is shot dead in Katlehong.[24][28] On 15 April, an improvised device was discovered and defused on a railway line near Soweto.[24][29] In 5 May, guerrillas opened fire in the Moroka Police Station, killing one and wounding three more policemen and three civilians.[30][31] Next, an explosive device was found in a railway in Eastern Transvaal.[24][32] On 15 November, members of MK attacked the Orlando SAP Station, leaving two officers dead and other two wounded.[24][33] In the same day, the house of the Lt Magezi Ngobeni of SAP Special Branch was attacked with grenades, leaving five children wounded.[24][34] In the next month, a railway near Alice, Eastern Cape was damaged by a blast.[24][35]
Foreign military activities[edit]
Angola[edit]
In January 1969, the ANC declared its solidarity with the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and pursued close military relations with that party, then involved in the Angolan War of Independence.[84] Both movements were drawn into a practical and ideological friendship because of their shared links with the Soviet Union through the communist parties of their respective nations.[84] At the First International Conference of Solidarity with the Fighting People of Southern Africa and the Portuguese Colonies, organised by the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation and the World Peace Council, the MPLA and ANC entered into a formal military alliance together with the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO), the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).[84] This became known as the Khartoum alliance.[84]
The ANC-MPLA alliance assumed new significance in the mid-1970s with Angolan independence.[84] After consolidating power with Cuban support, the MPLA granted MK permission to establish training facilities in Angola.[85] The primary MK base in Angola was located at Novo Catengue, where intakes of up to 500 recruits were trained by Cuban military advisers.[85] Between 1976 and 1979, over 1,000 MK guerrillas were trained at Novo Catengue.[85] In recognition of Cuba's role in supervising the training programme, the third MK intake to muster out was named the "Moncada Detachment".[85] There were also a number of smaller MK training camps established throughout Angola, namely at Quibaxe.[85] Aside from Cuba, the Soviet Union also contributed some instructors at the request of Oliver Tambo; between 1976 and 1991, 200 Soviet military personnel served at various MK camps in Angola as training staff.[86]
The ANC and MK presence in Angola re-ignited its alliance with SWAPO and its own armed wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN).[84] PLAN and MK frequently shared facilities in Angola and coordinated the transportation of supplies and war materiel.[84]
In 1984, there was a series of mutinies in MK's Angolan camps that were suppressed by the Mbokodo, the ANC's internal security service.[87] During this time, the ANC detained and executed a number of MK dissidents suspected of subversion or disloyalty.[87] In one case mutineers killed ANC members and after the mutiny was suppressed seven mutineers were executed (with further executions only halted after the personal intervention of Oliver Tambo).[88]
MK's presence in Angola inevitably embroiled it in the Angolan Civil War. In August 1983, an MK battalion was deployed against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) insurgents near Kibashe.[86] In 1986, three battalions of newly trained MK recruits were deployed to guard FAPLA rear areas during Operation Alpha Centauri.[89] MK also participated in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, fighting against a joint South African and UNITA expeditionary force during Operation Hooper and Operation Packer.[90] At least 100 MK cadres were killed during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, making that engagement of enormous symbolic importance, as it was the largest single loss of life in MK's history.[90] Furthermore, MK's prestige inside South Africa was greatly enhanced by its participation in a conventional battle, and apparent willingness to directly confront a South African military force.[90]
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)[edit]
During the Rhodesian Bush War, MK was closely allied with the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), the armed wing of ZAPU.[90] MK became interested in using ZIPRA's infiltration routes to smuggle supplies to its fighters in South Africa, and organised a joint expedition with the latter in August 1967.[90] A combined MK-ZIPRA force was largely eliminated by the Rhodesian Security Forces during Operation Nickel, and the survivors driven back across the border into Botswana and Zambia.[90] Historian Rocky Williams assesses that MK and ZIPRA "fought well under difficult conditions" and that although the incursion failed, the Rhodesian authorities were forced to rely on clandestine military assistance from South Africa to counter them.[14]
Concerning MK's alliance with ZIPRA, Oliver Tambo stated: "We have had close political relations with ZAPU, and these developed into relations at the military level, until we were in a position to fight together. This close alliance is the first of its kind one can recall in the liberation movement. In no previous instance has there actually been fighting by freedom fighters drawn from different territories."[90]
Number of deaths[edit]
South African police statistics indicate that, in the period 1976 to 1986, approximately 130 people were killed by guerrillas. Of these, about thirty were members of various security forces and one hundred were civilians. Of the civilians, 40 were white and 60 black.[96] In turn, around 11+ ANC members were killed in cross-border raids by the SADF.[97]
The following medals and awards, some with post-nominal titles, were retrospectively defined and awarded to members of MK: