Everything about Oliver Tambo totally explained
Oliver Reginald Tambo (
27 October 1917 -
24 April 1993) was a
South African anti-
apartheid politician and a central figure in the
African National Congress (ANC). He was born in
Bizana in eastern
Pondoland in what is now
Eastern Cape.
In
1940 he, along with several others including
Nelson Mandela, was expelled from
Fort Hare University for participating in a student strike. In 1942 Tambo returned to his former high school in Johannesburg to teach science and mathematics.
Tambo, along with Mandela and
Walter Sisulu, was a founding member of the
ANC Youth League in
1943, becoming its first National Secretary and later a member of the National Executive in 1948. The youth league proposed a change in tactics in the anti-apartheid movement. Previously the ANC had sought to further its cause by actions such as petitions and demonstrations; however, the Youth League felt these actions were insufficient to achieve the group's goals and proposed their own 'Programme of Action'. This programme advocated tactics such as boycotts, civil disobedience, strikes and non-collaboration.
In
1955 Tambo became Secretary General of the ANC after
Walter Sisulu was banned by the South African government under the
Suppression of Communism Act. In
1958 he became Deputy President of the ANC and in
1959 was served with a five year banning order by the government.
In response, Tambo was sent abroad by the ANC to mobilise opposition to
apartheid. He settled with his family in
Muswell Hill, north London, where he lived until 1990. He was involved in the formation of the
South African United Front, which some believe helped bring about South Africa's expulsion from the
Commonwealth in
1961. In reality, South Africa became a republic in 1961 and voluntarily left the Commonwealth. In
1967, Tambo became Acting President of the ANC, following the death of Chief
Albert Lutuli. In
1985 he was re-elected President of the ANC. He returned to South Africa in
1991 after over 30 years in exile, and was elected National Chairperson of the ANC in July of the same year. Tambo died due to complications from a stroke on
April 24,
1993.
In 2004 he was voted 31
st in the
SABC3's Great South Africans, scoring lower than
H.F. Verwoerd, before the
SABC decided to cancel the final rounds of voting, in light of the embarrassing results.
In late 2005, ANC politicians announced plans to rename
Johannesburg International Airport after him. The proposal was accepted and the renaming ceremony occurred on
October 27,
2006. The ANC dominated government had previously renamed
Jan Smuts Airport to
Johannesburg International Airport in 1994 on the grounds that South African airports shouldn't be named after political figures.
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