The organization became the ANC in 1923 and formed a military wing, the Umkhonto we Sizwe ( Spear of the Nation ) in 1961.

Umkhonto we Sizwe ( or MK ), translated " Spear of the Nation ", was the military wing of the ANC.

This flag was also the battle flag of the Umkhonto we Sizwe.

* List of Umkhonto we Sizwe ( MK ) operations – from ANC

After the arrest and imprisonment of Sisulu, Mandela and his father — and facing a similar fate — he left South Africa as one of a number of young ANC militants ( Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres ) sent abroad to continue their education and their anti-apartheid activities.

Notable examples include the South African Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Irish Republican Army ( IRA ), both of which were considered freedom fighters by supporters.

They allied themselves with the Communists to form Umkhonto we Sizwe (' Spear of the Nation ') which began a campaign of economic bombing or ' armed propaganda '.

On the other side of the political spectrum, 16 December is also the anniversary of the 1961 founding of Umkhonto we Sizwe ( Spear of the Nation ), the armed wing of the African National Congress.

Umkhonto we Sizwe ( or MK ), translated " Spear of the Nation ," was the armed wing of the African National Congress ( ANC ), co-founded by Nelson Mandela, which fought against the South African government .< ref name = mk >

* MK, nickname of Umkhonto we Sizwe ( Spear of the Nation ), formerly a paramilitary wing of the African National Congress ( ANC )

Sisulu was a brilliant political networker and had a prominent planning role in the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (" Spear of the Nation ").

Amongst the leading members of the Springbok Legion were many ex-servicemen who would later join the African National Congress and Umkhonto we Sizwe under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.

In December 1961, without Lutuli's sanction, Nelson Mandela of the Provincial ANC publicly launched Umkhonto we Sizwe at the All In Conference, where delegates from several movements had convened to discuss cooperation.

( In Mandela's autobiography, he insists that Lutuli was consulted and consented before the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

Out of the armed groups Libya used to support the Provisional IRA, Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Moro National Liberation Front have completely abandoned terrorist tactics or political violence.

The foundation of Poqo, the military wing of the PAC, and Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, followed shortly afterwards.

Although the IFP leadership favoured non-violence, as opposed to the ANC, which had created the Umkhonto we Sizwe, there is clear evidence that during the time that negotiations were taking place in the early 1990s, Inkatha and ANC members were at war with each other, and Self-Protection Units ( SPUs ) and Self-Defence Units ( SDUs ) were formed, respectively, as their protection forces.

City AA, as it became known, had been founded by Norma Kitson, the wife of the South African Communist activist David Kitson who served 19 years and 5 months in prison in a South African prison for his work in the National High Command of Umkhonto we Sizwe ( MK ), the military wing of the African National Congress.

In 1979 Inkosi Buthelezi and the Inkatha Yenkululeko Yesizwe, as it was then known, severed ties with the main ANC since the ANC favoured military strategies by employing the use of Umkhonto we Sizwe, Spear of the Nation.

Chris Hani, born Martin Thembisile Hani ( 28 June 1942 – 10 April 1993 ) was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress ( ANC ).

Following his graduation, he joined Umkhonto we Sizwe ( MK ), the armed wing of the ANC.

As head of Umkhonto we Sizwe, he was responsible for the suppression of a mutiny by dissident ANC members in detention camps, but denied any role in abuses including torture and murder.

Ironically, because of this act, groups such as Umkhonto we Sizwe, led by Nelson Mandela as a branch of the ANC, did seek support from the Communist party for financial aid.

Although EO was approached by many foreign soldiers for work, it only recruited men from South Africa who had either served in the SADF, Koevoet or the ANC ’ s armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe ( MK ).

Leftist and socialist groups included the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty, the Umkhonto We Sizwe, the Polisario Front, the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, while others were on the Far Right such as the Moro National Liberation Front.

Umkhonto We Sizwe, he was given a praise name of Tatamkhulu Afrika, which he adopted until he died.

* 1 August – African National Congress's armed wing, the Umkhonto we Sizwe, suspends its armed actions after 29 years

* 1 May – Jackie Matjili, Umkhonto we Sizwe member, is shot dead in Thokoza

* 23 March – Dorothy Nyembe is released from Kroonstad Prison after serving 15 years for defeating the end of justice by harbouring members of Umkhonto we Sizwe

* 13 May – Mobil Oil Refinery in Durban comes under RPG-7 attack by Umkhonto we Seize cadres.

* 7 August – Tshabalala Dry Cleaners in Soweto is extensively damaged by Umkhonto we Sizwe

* 10 February – Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres burn 5 square kilometres of land in the Richards Bay area in an arson attack

* 20 February – Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres try to set the Pelindaba Nuclear Research Station on fire in an arson attack

* 15 June – Monty Motlaung and Solomon Mahlangu, two Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres are arrested by police in warehouse in Goch Street, Johannesburg.

* 14 January – Police clash with Umkhonto we Sizwe guerrillas on a farm near Zeerust, one is arrested while 6 escape over the Botswana border

* 25 January – Three Umkhonto we Sizwe operatives Stephen Mafoko, Humphrey Makhubo and Wilfred Madela held the staff and customers in a Silverton bank in Pretoria hostage.

* 4 April – Umkhonto we Sizwe attack the Booysens Police Station in Johannesburg with grenades, rocket launchers and AK47s

* 29 October – Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres throw two grenades into the government buildings of the West Rand Administration Board and injure a security guard and friend

* 4 June – Patrick Makau, Umkhonto weSizwe member, and his child ( 9 ) are killed in a bomb attack on two houses in Manzini, Swaziland.

* 30 January – The South African Defence Force launch Operation Beanbag and raid a suspected Umkhonto we Sizwe safe area in the suburb of Matola, Maputo, Mozambique, killing 12 – 24 people ( numbers reported killed vary )

* 14 April – A section of railway line between Richards Bay and Vryheid is destroyed by Umkhonto we Sizwe and coal trucks derailed

* 25 May – A series of actions in support of Republic Day protests are claimed by Umkhonto we Sizwe

* 10 October – Umkhonto we Sizwe attack government offices of the Department of Co-operation and Development, Four injuries

* 21 October – Umkhonto we Sizwe destroy a transformer in Evander and a water pipeline feeding Sasol III ( Secunda CTL ) in Secunda

* 23 December – Eastern Cape provincial buildings in Duncan Village is damaged in an Umkhonto we Sizwe attack

* 8 January – Umkhonto we Sizwe guerrillas attack Koeberg nuclear power plant in Cape Town

* 24 September – Umkhonto we Sizwe place explosives on a railway bridge near Upington but they don't go off