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File Picture: Itumeleng English.

Umkhonto weSizwe celebrated its 50th anniversary yesterday by urging the government not to forget its soldiers who took up arms against the apartheid regime.

MK, or the Spear of the Nation, is the disbanded armed wing of the ANC. It was formed on December 16, 1961, with former president Nelson Mandela as its first commander-in-chief.

Mandela disbanded it when he came out of prison in 1994 and its members were integrated into the SANDF in 1994.

“Today we mark 50 years of existence but my heart bleeds when I see the majority of our heroes languishing in poverty,” said Kebby Maphatsoe, the chairman of the MK Military Veterans Association, at a special function held at Soweto’s Orlando Stadium.

“While we acknowledge the progress made by the government to improve the lives of ex-MK soldiers, many of our people seem to have fallen through the cracks,” Maphatsoe told the 16 000-strong crowd.

SACP leader Blade Nzimande used the opportunity to rally MK veterans against corruption, “tenderpreneurship”, misguided militancy and ill-discipline.

Nzimande said: “On this day, we call upon our movement as a whole to deal decisively with ill-discipline, recklessness, populism and corruption. MK cadres understood that one of the best weapons we could have handed over to the enemy in order to defeat us was ill-discipline and reckless militancy.

“Let us root out all these foreign tendencies within our ranks in order to safeguard the legacy of Umkhonto WeSizwe”.

Yesterday also marked Reconciliation Day, known until the end of apartheid as the Day of the Vow, commemorating a 1838 a victory by the Boers over Zulu forces.

IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi noted in a statement that two different conflicts in SA’s history – the Day of the Vow and the anniversary of MK – were being commemorated.

“But just as the Day of the Vow speaks of an end to bloodshed, so too should the focus of MK’s 50th anniversary celebrate the fact that armed conflict is part of our past, not our future.”

Speaking in Wolmaransstad in the North West, Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder expressed concern that Reconciliation Day and the annual commemoration of the 1838 vow stood opposite each other.

“It is a mistake to try and force Afrikaners to choose between the two – because both are possible,” he said.

“In practice it means that there must be enough room for all in South Africa so that no people or cultural group feels threatened or alienated.”

Mulder said he was also concerned about the way in which the Afrikaners’ history was being portrayed in a largely negative and one-sided manner.

In its Reconciliation Day statement, DA spokesman Mmusi Maimane said it was the responsibility of each South African to vigilantly guard against those in positions of power abusing their power and sowing division.

“Let us renew our efforts to ensure that we achieve a truly free and prosperous South Africa where every person has the opportunity to achieve all they dream of,” he said.

“We must work towards a future of delivery, diversity, redress and reconciliation for all.”

The DA wished MK well in its celebrations. - Sapa-AFP