EVEN though Oliver Tambo is hailed as a leading icon in the politics of South Africa’s struggle for liberation and international boycott against the apartheid regime, the spectrum of his political involvement was not just confined to addressing the plight of Africans oppressed by the apartheid regime in South Africa, but also other Africans suffering as result of colonialism in their countries and even the people of the world at large.
A case in point, which is of relevance in this context, was the massacre of innocent Namibians who were protesting the forced removal from the Old Location to Katutura on the 10th of December 1959. Tambo, in an act of solidarity, took it upon himself to travel to Windhoek to express solidarity with the people of Namibia. With reference to this Tambo’s obituary from the Office of the President of the Republic of Namibia prepared for the conferment of his post-humous national honour in March 2010 states that Tambo “vowed not to stand by and observe while injustice was committed against innocent people, whose only offence was their demand for justice and fair treatment. Thus true to character Oliver Tambo courageously travelled from Johannesburg to Windhoek after the popular uprising against the forced removals of black Namibians from the Old Location to the present day Katutura in order to offer legal counsel to those who were arrested following the uprising.”
However, his efforts to provide legal counsel to Namibians were curtailed by the South African colonial authorities and he could not succeed in this endeavor. “In its sinister plot to deny justice to the protestors, he was not allowed to leave Eros Airport in Windhoek, where he landed. He was detained overnight and deported to South Africa the very next day,” writes the office of the President of the Republic of Namibia. Despite his detention his obituary cites that Tambo’s effort to come to Namibia according to the Office of the President “highlight the shared conviction amongst the oppressed people of Namibia and South Africa.” Through his noble deeds and readiness to stand side by side with his Namibian brothers and sisters, the bond of friendship between the people of Namibia and South Africa were further strengthened. Tambo was born in Eastern Cape on October 27, 1917 in South Africa.
The son of Julia a devout Christian woman and Mzimeni Tambo, a traditionalist, he grew up looking after his family’s livestock. Besides looking after family’s livestock, Tambo also started attending school in 1923. After completing primary and secondary school he enrolled for tertiary education at the University of Fort Hare. There he came into contact and forged good relations with Nelson Mandela, who was also studying at the same university. Through their relationship, they helped to form the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). In 1954, he was elected as Deputy President of the ANC and became increasingly involved in political activities against the apartheid regime. He was involved in the drafting of the Freedom Charter and in many political mobilization activities aimed at gaining local international support for the ANC. His political activism got him arrested on treason charges in December 1956. He was later cleared of the charges and was released from prison.
Following the ban of the ANC as a political party in South Africa after it vowed to undertake military action against the apartheid regime and the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, he was appointed as acting president and head of the ANC in exile. After the ban of the ANC was lifted in 1990, he returned to South Africa. He handed over the ANC presidency to Nelson Mandela in 1991 and died on the April 24, 1993.