OR Tambo Returns from Exile

On 13 December 1990, exactly 35 years ago, Oliver Reginald Tambo, the exiled Deputy President and later President of the African National Congress (ANC), returned to his country of birth after having left it almost three decades earlier. With the unbanning of the ANC in 1990 and the process of transition already underway, the entire Tambo family flew back to South Africa in December 1990. Unfortunately, Tambo was unable to address the welcoming crowd at the airport due to his loss of speech.

Pressure and exhaustion took its toll on Tambo in 1989, and he suffered a severe stroke that resulted in him losing his speech. Following his stroke, he was rushed from Lusaka, on Tony Rowland’s executive plane to Harley Street in London, on the orders of President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia. Rowland also assisted in paying for Tambo’s medical treatment. Against the advice of his physician and the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC, Tambo continued his punishing work schedule, travelling on ANC business. He suffered another stroke in 1990 whilst undergoing medical treatment in Sweden. Again, Rowland flew him back to London where he was treated.

The 73-year-old ANC President, appearing frail but smiling broadly, was greeted at the airport by a throng of ANC leaders, foreign ambassadors and anti-apartheid dignitaries. He later waved from an airport balcony to 5,000 singing, cheering supporters outside. Luli Callinicos wrote, “At the airport there was a tumultuous reception … Tambo stood above the multitude and smiled and lifted his right arm with his left hand to wave. ‘Khuluma!’ (Speak!) shouted the crowds, amid ululation and chanting. Tambo attempted to speak but could not. The 11-hour journey and the anticipation and profound emotion had left him exhausted. One member of the welcoming crowd expressed shock at seeing the ‘Comrade President’. ‘Why did they not tell us he was so sick?’ he asked.”

The ANC’s Deputy President and Tambo’s friend and former legal partner, Nelson Mandela, told the crowd, “We welcome him with open arms as one of the greatest heroes of Africa”. Then the two climbed into Mandela’s red Mercedes-Benz, with motorcade departing under a police escort to a welcome rally that was organised at Orlando Stadium, attended by a crowd of more than 70,000 people.

According to Chris Hani, who was the then the Chief of Staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), before being elected as General Secretary of the South African Communist Party, “Well, the fact that the ANC survived the most difficult period in exile is due to the ANC leadership as a whole, but I think, in particular to Comrade Oliver Tambo.

Hani maintained that “Oliver Tambo is not a demagogue. He is a scientific analyst. He pays attention to the needs of the movement. He never forms cliques with any individual in the organisation. He encourages people to be critical and he listens to criticism. He avoids taking administrative action against those who take a particular line which sometimes is a departure from the line of the organisation. He maintains very strong links with members of the organisation wherever they are.”

For Chris Hani, “That is why the ANC didn’t suffer the fate of the PAC, riddled with divisions, with infighting. It is because it had a President who saw his historic mission as keeping the ANC together. For Tambo this was the overriding need. In conditions of exile, the ANC should remain a united organisation. An ANC that works closely with SACTU, the trade union movement, as well as with the CP. An ANC that works closely with the youth.”

“That is why OR spent a lot of time in the camps of MK”, Chris Hani claimed, “so that he could actually understand the problems of the army as well.” OR Tambo was “A perfectionist, a true hero of the people”, adds Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. “The tragedy is that South Africans were not allowed to know this remarkable leader since he led the ANC during its exile and underground existence. He could not be seen or quoted in South Africa.”

Though steadfast in his resolve, OR Tambo was noted for his grace, warmth and affection. His decisive achievement was keeping the ANC together in exile. By skilful lobbying throughout the world and attracting the most talented South African exiles, he was able to build the organisation into the legitimate voice of black South Africans. Though still in exile, Tambo’s ANC provided the focus for mass politics in South Africa in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.

“At a time when the enemies of Africa will be devising their own treacherous ‘solutions’ to the problem of South Africa, the need will increase for Africa itself to be clear and united in its understanding of support for the objectives of our liberation struggle.” Unity in Action Decisive – OR Tambo Interviewed by New African, London, 1980

Oliver Tambo, fondly known as OR, was one of the founder members of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in 1944 with Nelson Mandela, Anton Lembede and Walter Sisulu, among others, and was elected as the organisation’s Secretary. He was appointed as the Secretary General of the ANC in 1954. After being elected Deputy President to Luthuli, with the banning of the ANC and other liberation movements in 1960, Tambo was given the mandate to establish ANC mission offices in exile.

Tambo started the United Kingdom and Ireland, Morogoro and Lusaka Missions and was at the fore of mobilisation of the armed struggle and guerrilla campaigns against apartheid. When ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli died in 1967, Tambo was appointed as Acting President. He remained as Acting President of the organisation during the Morogoro Conference in 1969 and was elected as President in 1985 at the Kabwe Conference, in Zambia, until his return to South Africa after the unbanning of the ANC.

Sources:
South African History Online (SAHO).
Unity in Action Decisive, “OR Tambo Interviewed by New African”, London, South African History Online (SAHO), 05 January 1980.
Scott Kraft, “ANC President Tambo Returns to S. Africa After 30-Year Exile”, Los Angeles Times, 14 December 1990.
Christopher S. Wren, “Tambo, Mandela’s Old Comrade, Back in South Africa From Exile”, The New York Times, 14 December 1990.
Chris Hani, “Luli Callinicos: Interview with Chris Hani”, South African History Online (SAHO), Johannesburg, 23 and 31 March 1993.
Jan-Ad Stemmet and Leo Barnard, “Oliver Tambo and the Ghost of Struggle Past”, Southern Journal for Contemporary History, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2001.
Luli Callinicos, “Oliver Tambo: Beyond the Engeli Mountains”, David Philip, 2004.
Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, “Oliver Tambo Inaugural Lecture: The International Legacy of Oliver Reginald Tambo, 1917-1993”, City Chambers: George Square, Glasgow, 26 October 2006.
ADF Staff, “Oliver Tambo: From Exile to Exalted”, Africa Defense Forum (ADF), 10 July 2018.

Castro Khwela
Good evening fellow Compatriots!