List of military equipment used by UMkhonto we Sizwe explained

In the early years of its armed resistance campaign, the African National Congress and its armed wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), used whatever arms and war materiel it could lay its hands on. ANC members in exile became adept at building home-made explosives, including time bombs, from materials the movement could acquire from commercial sources. According to Nelson Mandela, as early as 1953 the ANC began sending delegations abroad to petition sympathetic governments for military aid. From the early 1960s, the ANC became more influenced by the South African Communist Party (SACP), which enjoyed close political ties to the Soviet Union. Following the SACP and ANC's formation of MK in 1961, SACP members such as Arthur Goldreich made several tours of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact member states to solicit military aid. Beginning in 1963, the Soviet Union became the largest contributor of war materiel and arms to MK. It supplied an estimated 36 million rubles' worth of military equipment to MK from 1963 to 1990, including pistols, rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and ammunition. By 1982 an estimated 90% of MK's equipment was of Soviet origin. The remainder came from other Warsaw Pact member states or sympathetic revolutionary movements; for example, MK received ex-Portuguese Uzi and Sterling submachine guns from the People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) during the mid-1970s. The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) also donated some arms and ammunition to MK. MK used these weapons during its economic sabotage activities inside South Africa, as well as in semi-conventional military operations in Angola and elsewhere.

MK cadres were frequently sent to the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent East Germany, to receive military training on these weapons abroad. However, the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Cuba also sent military instructors to help train MK cadres in friendly African nations where the ANC operated in exile, such as Angola, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia. MK stored most of its equipment in large arms depots located in neighbouring states around South Africa, and operated various smuggling routes to bring this materiel to its domestic insurgent cells. The materiel was smuggled across the border in small quantities and then mostly cached in major urban centers where the ANC had a large and active political following.

Although the MK was never able to achieve parity in conventional weapons with the South African security forces, by the early 1990s it had stockpiled enough small arms inside the country to mount a determined guerrilla campaign indefinitely. The small arms most commonly carried by MK insurgents included TT-33 and Makarov pistols, Škorpion vz. 61 submachine guns, and Kalashnikov-pattern assault rifles. The pistols and Škorpions were always issued in much larger numbers to MK recruits than rifles, as they were considered more suitable for hit-and-run attacks and assassinations, and discouraged prolonged firefights in which the insurgents would always be at a disadvantage. During the final years of its struggle, MK complemented these weapons with Stechkin automatic pistols. In its early operations, MK also favoured the Uzi submachine gun, a number of which were recovered from its arms caches during the late 1960s. It was later superseded by the Škorpion, although MK recruits continued to be trained on the Uzi as late as 1977. The MK leadership consistently displayed a preference for compact, easily concealable weapons with more firepower than semi-automatic pistols but less cumbersome than full-sized rifles.

MK amassed one of southern Africa's largest stockpiles of land mines held by a non-state entity, consisting of over 19,000 anti-tank mines, 13,000 anti-personnel mines, and 5,000 limpet mines. An air defence regiment was formed in the late 1970s under the guidance of Cuban instructors. This unit was to provide security for external MK base camps that might be targeted by South African air raids, and was equipped with ZPU-1 anti-aircraft guns and Strela-2 (SA-7) surface-to-air missiles.

After the end of apartheid, MK surrendered oversight of its depots and equipment to the newly constituted South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Small arms

!Model!Image!Origin!Type!Calibre!Notes
Pistols
TT-33Pistol7.62x25mm
Makarov PMPistol9x18mm
Stechkin APSMachine pistol9x18mm
Submachine guns
PPSH-41Submachine gun7.62x25mmRecovered from MK caches in Mozambique.
Sa vz. 25Submachine gun9x19mm
Škorpion Vz. 61Submachine gun.32 ACPPossibly up to 2,000 delivered by Czechoslovakia.
SterlingSubmachine gun9x19mm
UziSubmachine gun9x19mm Recovered from MK arms caches in Rhodesia.
Rifles
SKSSemi-automatic rifle7.62x39mm3,362 delivered by the Soviet Union.
AK-47Assault rifle7.62x39mm"Several thousand" delivered by the Soviet Union.
AKMAssault rifle7.62x39mmIssued to some MK cadres by the late 1980s.
PM md. 63Assault rifle7.62x39mmRecovered from MK arms caches in Mozambique.
Dragunov SVDSniper rifle7.62×54mmR
Machine guns
RPDLight machine gun7.62x39mmRecovered from MK caches in Mozambique.
RPKLight machine gun7.62x39mmRecovered from MK caches in Mozambique.
RP-46Light machine gun7.62×54mmR
PKMedium machine gun7.62×54mmRRecovered from MK caches in Mozambique.
Portable anti-tank weapons
RPG-7Rocket-propelled grenade85mm
9M14 MalyutkaAnti-tank guided missile125mm20 delivered by the Soviet Union.

Grenades and explosives

!Model!Image!Origin!Type!Notes
F1Hand grenade
RG-42Hand grenade
RGD-5Hand grenade
TM-57Anti-tank mineSome recovered from an MK cache in Umgababa in 1985.
MPM/Type 158Limpet mine

Light artillery and air defence

!Model!Image!Origin!Type!Calibre!Notes
Artillery
9P132 Grad-PRocket launcher122mm90 delivered by the Soviet Union.
B-10Recoilless rifle82mmUsed to guard external training camps.
B-11Recoilless rifle107mm
ZPU-1Anti-aircraft gun14.5mm
9K32 Strela-2Man-portable surface-to-air missile72mmOver 40 delivered by the Soviet Union.

References

Online sources

Bibliography

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