UMkhonto weSizwe (political party)

uMkhonto weSizwe (Zulu for 'Spear of the Nation'), abbreviated as MK, and often referred to as the MK Party, is a South African left-wing populist political party founded in December 2023. The party is named after uMkhonto weSizwe (also shortened to MK), the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC) which was active during the apartheid regime in South Africa. However, the ANC has threatened legal action over the usage of the name, and the formation has been criticised by original MK veterans.

The party rose to prominence in December 2023, when former president Jacob Zuma announced that, while planning to remain a lifelong member of the ANC, he would not be campaigning for the ANC in the 2024 South African general election, and would instead be voting for MK. He stated that "I cannot and will not" campaign for the ANC of current president Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma's successor, and that to do so would be a "betrayal".

On 21 May 2024, a week before the 2024 general election, the Constitutional Court ruled that party leader Jacob Zuma was ineligible to serve in Parliament as his fifteen-month prison sentence for contempt of court disqualified him. Although his image would remain on ballot papers, alongside his party's logo, Zuma's name would be removed from MK's list of parliamentary candidates. In July 2024, Jacob Zuma was expelled from the African National Congress (ANC) because of campaigning for a rival party (MK party) in the 29 May general election.