The MK and ZIPRA formally announce that they had formed a military alliance

Date: 18 Aug 1967
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Zimbabwean People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), military wing of Zimbabwean African People’s Union (ZAPU) formally announced that they had formed a military alliance. The guerrillas clashed with Rhodesian and South African forces in Wankie and Sipolilo Campaign in Rhodesia. Their fighting ability amazed their enemies as they thought it was going to be a cat and mouse clash. The conflict lasted until late in 1968 and observers believe that it sent a strong message to the Rhodesian and South African governments that guerrilla warfare would soon engulf the region.

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How we know this

01South African History Online, ‘Luthuli Combat Detachment crosses the Zambezi’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 16 August 2013]
02Mwakikagile Godfrey (2009), ‘Africa 1960-1970 Chronicles and Analysis’, (New Africa Press), p. 518

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, August 16). The MK and ZIPRA formally announce that they had formed a military alliance. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091117

South African History Online (2012) 'The MK and ZIPRA formally announce that they had formed a military alliance', South African History Online, 16 August. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091117 (Accessed: 28 August 2026).

South African History Online, The MK and ZIPRA formally announce that they had formed a military alliance [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091117, (accessed 28 August 2026).

"The MK and ZIPRA formally announce that they had formed a military alliance." South African History Online, 16 Aug. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091117. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "The MK and ZIPRA formally announce that they had formed a military alliance." South African History Online. August 16, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091117.