The uMkhonto we Sizwe Veterans Association (MKMVA) says it will host a series of activities as it celebrates the centenary birthday of its first commander-in-chief Nelson Mandela.

The celebrations will take place in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng as well as the Western Cape.

Umkhonto we Sizwe was established on 16 December 1961 after the apartheid government banned the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960.

MKMVA president Kebby Maphatsoe says they have invited President Cyril Ramaphosa as well as former heads of state to the celebrations.

“The centenary celebrations programme that we announce today (on Monday) is not just a celebration of the past, but it is also very much intended to be instructive for how we should continue to conduct ourselves at this juncture of our liberation struggle in order to successfully conclude the implementation of the second phase of our national democratic revolution and ensure that the full liberation of our people that MK, and now MKMVA, always fought for will be achieved,” adds Maphatsoe.