Preserving and Advocating Umkhonto’s Captivating Heritage
Introduction
In a statement on the state of organisation of Umkhonto we Sizwe, delivered by the then Umkhonto we Sizwe Army Chief of Staff, Comrade Chris Thembisile Hani, at the University of Venda, Thohoyandou, on 9 – 11 August 1991[i], he stated that:
“The significance of our achievements revolves around not so much on victorious battles and liberated zones but more on armed propaganda actions which anchored and inspired our people’s determination to resist the tyranny of white rule. At a time when the enemy seemed to have emasculated the people’s resistance, it was MK which held up the torch of struggle and served an unparalleled example of a spirit of no surrender.”
This is one of the most formidable characterisations of liberation heritage that cuts across all generations and detachments of the People’s Army, Umkhonto we Sizwe. It spans from the first Sabotage Campaign Units, the Luthuli Detachment of the Wankie and Sipolilo Campaigns, the June 16 and Moncada, the Madinoga, Isandlwana Detachments of the 1970s, and to the Young Lions of the 1980s ending with the Barney Molokoane Detachment of the 1990s, as well as the Internal Detachments that became prevalent during Operation Zikomo, and the Self-Defence Units and Amabutho that defended the various communities throughout the country from Third-Force and vigilante’s cold-hearted violence.
Scope
The presentation begins with attempti
