Editing African National Congress (section)

===uMkhonto we Sizwe===
{{main|uMkhonto we Sizwe}}
In 1961, partly in response to the Sharpeville massacre, leaders of the SACP and the ANC formed a military body, [[Umkhonto we Sizwe]] (MK, ''Spear of the Nation''), as a vehicle for armed struggle against the apartheid state. Initially, MK was not an official ANC body, nor had it been directly established by the ANC National Executive: it was considered an autonomous organisation, until such time as the ANC formally recognised it as its armed wing in October 1962.<ref name="Stevens-2019">{{Cite journal |last=Stevens |first=Simon |date=2019-11-01 |title=The Turn to Sabotage by The Congress Movement in South Africa |journal=Past & Present |issue=245 |pages=221–255 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gtz030 |issn=0031-2746 |doi-access=free |hdl=1814/75043 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Ellis-1991"/>

In the first half of the 1960s, MK was preoccupied with a campaign of [[sabotage]] attacks, especially bombings of unoccupied government installations.<ref name="Stevens-2019" /> As the ANC reduced its presence inside South Africa, however, MK cadres were increasingly confined to training camps in Tanzania and neighbouring countries – with such exceptions as the [[Operation Nickel|Wankie Campaign]], a momentous military failure.<ref name="Houston-2004">{{Cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Gregory |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273455254 |title=The Road to Democracy in South Africa |last2=Ralinala |first2=Rendani Moses |publisher=Zebra Press |year=2004 |volume=1 |pages=435–492 |chapter=The Wankie and Sipolilo Campaigns |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231044547/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273455254_The_Wankie_and_Sipolilo_Campaigns |archive-date=31 December 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1969, Tambo was compelled to call the landmark [[Morogoro Conference]] to address the grievances of the rank-and-file, articulated by [[Chris Hani]] in a memorandum which depicted MK's leadership as corrupt and complacent.<ref name="Macmillan-2009">{{Cite journal |last=Macmillan |first=Hugh |date=2009-09-01 |title=After Morogoro: the continuing crisis in the African National Congress (of South Africa) in Zambia, 1969–1971 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02533950903076386 |url-status=live |journal=Social Dynamics |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=295–311 |doi=10.1080/02533950903076386 |issn=0253-3952 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231044529/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02533950903076386 |archive-date=31 December 2021 |access-date=26 December 2021 |s2cid=143455223}}</ref> Although MK's malaise persisted into the 1970s, conditions for armed struggle soon improved considerably, especially after the [[Soweto uprising]] of 1976 in South Africa saw thousands of students – inspired by [[Black Consciousness Movement|Black Consciousness]] ideas – cross the borders to seek military training.<ref name="Ellis-1994">{{Cite journal |last=Ellis |first=Stephen |date=1994 |title=Mbokodo: Security in ANC Camps, 1961–1990 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/723845 |url-status=live |journal=African Affairs |volume=93 |issue=371 |pages=279–298 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098712 |issn=0001-9909 |jstor=723845 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227162526/https://www.jstor.org/stable/723845 |archive-date=27 December 2021 |access-date=27 December 2021|hdl=1887/9075 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> MK [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] activity inside South Africa increased steadily over this period, with one estimate recording an increase from 23 incidents in 1977 to 136 incidents in 1985.<ref name="Lodge-1987">{{Cite journal |last=Lodge |first=Tom |date=1987 |title=State of Exile: The African National Congress of South Africa, 1976–86 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3991845 |url-status=live |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=1,282–310 |doi=10.1080/01436598708419960 |issn=0143-6597 |jstor=3991845 |pmid=12268882 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227113732/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3991845 |archive-date=27 December 2021 |access-date=27 December 2021}}</ref> In the latter half of the 1980s, a number of South African civilians were killed in these attacks, a reversal of the ANC's earlier reluctance to incur civilian casualties.<ref name="Williams-2000">{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Rocky |date=2000 |title=The other armies: A brief historical overview of Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK), 1961–1994 |url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol115rw.html |url-status=live |journal=Military History Journal |volume=11 |issue=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004182018/http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol115rw.html |archive-date=4 October 2018 |access-date=27 December 2021}}</ref><ref name="Lodge-1987" /> Fatal attacks included the 1983 [[Church Street bombing]], the 1985 [[Amanzimtoti bombing]], the 1986 [[Durban beach-front bombing|Magoo's Bar bombing]], and the 1987 [[Johannesburg Magistrate's Court bombing]]. Partly in retaliation, the [[South African Defence Force]] increasingly crossed the border to target ANC members and ANC bases, as in the 1981 [[Operation Beanbag|raid on Maputo]], 1983 [[Operation Skerwe|raid on Maputo]], and 1985 [[raid on Gaborone]].<ref name="Ellis-2013" />[[File:Oliver Tambo (1981).jpg|thumb|[[Oliver Tambo]], ANC president in exile from 1967 to 1991.]]
During this period, MK activities led the governments of [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[Ronald Reagan]] to condemn the ANC as a terrorist organisation.<ref name="Waxman-2018">{{Cite magazine |last=Waxman |first=Olivia B. |date=2018-07-18 |title=The U.S. Government Had Nelson Mandela on Terrorist Watch Lists Until 2008. Here's Why |url=https://time.com/5338569/nelson-mandela-terror-list/ |url-status=live |magazine=Time |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227113735/https://time.com/5338569/nelson-mandela-terror-list/ |archive-date=27 December 2021 |access-date=2021-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McSmith |first=Andy |date=2013-12-10 |title=Margaret Thatcher branded ANC 'terrorist' while urging Nelson Mandela's release |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatcher-branded-anc-terrorist-while-urging-nelson-mandela-s-release-8994191.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227113733/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatcher-branded-anc-terrorist-while-urging-nelson-mandela-s-release-8994191.html |archive-date=27 December 2021 |access-date=2021-12-27 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> In fact, neither the ANC nor Mandela were removed from the U.S. terror watch list until 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Windrem |first=Robert |date=2013-12-07 |title=US government considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist until 2008 |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-government-considered-nelson-mandela-terrorist-until-2008-flna2D11708787 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227113737/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-government-considered-nelson-mandela-terrorist-until-2008-flna2D11708787 |archive-date=27 December 2021 |access-date=2021-12-27 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The animosity of Western regimes was partly explained by the [[Cold War]] context, and by the considerable amount of support – both financial and technical – that the ANC received from the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="Shubin-1996">{{Cite journal |last=Shubin |first=Vladimir |date=1996 |title=The Soviet Union/Russian Federation's Relations with South Africa, with Special Reference to the Period since 1980 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/723723 |url-status=live |journal=African Affairs |volume=95 |issue=378 |pages=5–30 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a007713 |issn=0001-9909 |jstor=723723 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227162524/https://www.jstor.org/stable/723723 |archive-date=27 December 2021 |access-date=27 December 2021}}</ref><ref name="Ellis-2013" />