What was the name of Nelson Mandela’s anti-apartheid armed wing?

Nelson Mandela’s anti-apartheid armed wing was Umkhonto we Sizwe, commonly abbreviated as MK.

The African National Congress and the South African Communist Party established Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961. Its name translates from isiXhosa and isiZulu as “Spear of the Nation.” The organization was formed after the Sharpeville massacre and the banning of the ANC, when peaceful political opposition faced increasingly severe repression.

Mandela became Umkhonto we Sizwe’s first commander-in-chief. Initially, the organization carried out sabotage against government installations while seeking to avoid deaths. Mandela later traveled abroad for military and political training, but he was arrested in 1962 after returning to South Africa.

A common mix-up is to treat Umkhonto we Sizwe as another name for the ANC. They were closely allied, but the ANC was the political movement and MK was its armed wing. MK was formally disbanded during South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994.