The SKS found particular favour in southern Africa, where it was utilised by a number of insurgent armies fighting to overthrow colonial rule in Angola, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and South West Africa (Namibia). The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) used the Type 56 Chinese variant during its long-running insurgency against the postcolonial Angolan government from 1975 to 2002. The SKS was also used in small quantities by uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa. SKS carbines captured from MK by the South African security forces were used to arm militias of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) during its internal power struggle with the ANC in the 1980s and 1990s.