MK party

DURBAN – The Durban High Court has dismissed the ANC’s bid to stop the MK party from using the uMkhonto we Sizwe name and logo. 

The ANC claimed the name and logo belonged to the party as it was the name of its military wing.

But, the new party argued the governing party could not claim the name since it does not legally own it.

The MK party has emerged as a strong rival to the ANC ahead of the elections next month, especially in KwaZulu-Natal.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress lost a second court case against a new rival party fronted by former President Jacob Zuma on Monday.

A judge in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in the eastern city of Durban dismissed the ANC’s case alleging copyright infringement against the MK Party for using a name and a logo the ANC claims ownership of.

The MK Party was formed late last year and was given added importance ahead of a national election in May when former ANC leader Zuma joined.

MK takes its full name — uMkhonto weSizwe — from the now-disbanded military wing set up by the ANC and Nelson Mandela in the 1960s. The MK Party’s logo showing a man holding a spear and a shield is similar to the old military wing’s logo.

The ANC’s request for payment in the form of royalties or damages from MK wasThe ANC has governed South Africa for 30 years since the first democratic elections following the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation in 1994. But it is under increasing pressure from voters over the country’s deep problems, which include record levels of unemployment, worsening poverty, high rates of violent crime, government corruption and an electricity crisis.

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.

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.

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.

Motivations for formation

According to Nelson Mandela, all of the founding members of the uMkhonto we Sizwe, including himself, were also members of the ANC. In his “I Am Prepared to Die” speech, delivered at the conclusion of the Rivonia Trial, Mandela outlined the motivations that led to the formation of uMkhonto we Sizwe:

At the beginning of June 1961, after a long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I, and some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force.

This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form uMkhonto we Sizwe. We did so not because we desired such a course, but solely because the government had left us with no other choice. In the Manifesto of uMkhonto published on 16 December 1961, which is exhibit AD, we said:

The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom.

Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalise and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or take over the Government. We chose to defy the law. We first broke the law in a way which avoided any recourse to violence; when this form was legislated against, and then the Government resorted to a show of force to crush opposition to its policies, only then did we decide to answer with violence.

The manifesto referred to by Mandela, adduced by the prosecution at his trial as Exhibit AD, included the statements:

Our men are armed and trained freedom fighters not “terrorists”. We are fighting for democracy—majority rule—the right of the Africans to rule Africa. We are fighting for a South Africa in which there will be peace and harmony and equal rights for all people. We are not racialists, as the white oppressors are. The African National Congress has a message of freedom for all who live in our country.

The aim was to act only against hard targets such as power pylons and avoid any injury or loss of life.

1960s–1970s

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. Beginning on 16 December 1961, the campaign by uMkhonto we Sizwe with Mandela as its leader, was launched, with bomb attacks on government targets and planned for possible guerrilla warfare. The first target of the campaign was an electricity sub-station. uMkhonto we Sizwe 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. The sabotage included attacks on government posts, machines and power facilities, and crop burning.

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.

MK planned a campaign called “Operation O Mayibuye”, or “Operation Mayibuye”, from Liliesleaf Farm, where they met in secret.

In 1962, Mandela went to Algeria, Egypt, and Ghana to get international backing for the group. After returning to South Africa, Joe Slovo reportedly complained that they had “sent [Mandela] off to Africa a Communist and he came back an African nationalist”.

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.

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.

The early 1970s were a low point for the ANC in many ways, including in the military sphere. Attempts to rebuild uMkhonto we Sizwe 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 we Sizwe 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. On 14 December, guerrillas attacked the Germiston police station. 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. 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 device blast severely damaged the main administrative building,

In 14 January, seven members clashed with SAP near Zeerust, one member was captured, others escaped over Botswana border. On 23 January, an explosion damaged the railway near New Canada, Gauteng. 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. In February, Sergeant Benjamin Letlako, a Police Special Branch member, is shot dead in Katlehong. On 15 April, an improvised device was discovered and defused on a railway line near Soweto. In 5 May, guerrillas opened fire in the Moroka Police Station, killing one and wounding three more policemen and three civilians. Next, an explosive device was found in a railway in Eastern Transvaal. On 15 November, members of MK attacked the Orlando SAP Station, leaving two officers dead and other two wounded. In the same day, the house of the Lt Magezi Ngobeni were attacked with grenades, leaving five relatives of the officer wounded. In the next month, a railway near , Eastern Cape was damaged by a blast