UMkhonto we Sizwe

uMkhonto we Sizwe
Founder	Nelson Mandela
Leaders	Nelson Mandela Oliver Tambo Walter Sisulu Govan Mbeki Joe Slovo Lennox Lagu Joe Modise Chris Hani Raymond Mhlaba Moses Mabhida Ronnie Kasrils Isaac Lesiba Maphotho Siphiwe Nyanda Godfrey Ngwenya
Dates of operation	1961–1993
Allegiance	ANC SACP
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism Left-wing nationalism Pan-Africanism Anti-apartheid
Political position	Far-left
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

uMkhonto we Sizwe (Xhosa pronunciation: [um̩ˈkʰonto we ˈsizwe]; abbreviated MK; English: Spear of the Nation) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), and was founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government.^[1]

After warning the South African government in June 1961 of its intent to resist further acts of government-instituted terror if the government did not take steps toward constitutional reform and increase political rights, uMkhonto we Sizwe 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 we Sizwe 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 we Sizwe 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]