UMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association

The uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA) was an auxiliary political organisation affiliated to South Africa's African National Congress (ANC). It was founded in 1996 to represent the interests of individuals who had participated in the armed struggle against apartheid as members of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), the ANC's armed wing. Although its relationship to the ANC and MK was not formally or legally codified, the organisation received a degree of de facto recognition both from the ANC and from the ANC-led government.

The status of its authority became increasingly controversial during the presidency of Jacob Zuma, as MKMVA became an increasingly visible participant in pro-Zuma political agitation. Critics, including a rival veterans' organisation called the MK National Council, condemned MKMVA for its intimacy with the controversial Gupta family and for presenting itself as a paramilitary force aligned to Zuma. They also alleged that MKMVA had become bloated with individuals who had not genuinely served in MK before it was disbanded during South Africa's transition to democracy.

Under Cyril Ramaphosa, who succeeded Zuma as ANC president, the ANC instructed MKMVA to disband in June 2021. MKMVA leaders refused to do so and actively opposed Zuma's arrest in June 2021. However, in late April 2022, a joint conference for MK veterans, organised by the ANC, decided that MKMVA and its rivals would be replaced by a single veterans' organisation, to be named the MK Liberation War Veterans.