ANC President Oliver Tambo Suffers a Brain Spasm
On 30 August 1989, the Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC), Alfred Nzo, confirmed reports that the ANC President Oliver Tambo was in a London hospital for more than two weeks after suffering a brain spasm. According to Nzo, Tambo was comfortable, in good spirits and was progressing well. Oliver Tambo, who had undergone extensive treatment and rehabilitation in Britain and Sweden, was ailing from the effects of a stroke.
International newspapers reported that Tambo had suffered a stroke in Lusaka on Wednesday, 9 August 1989, and was flown to Britain on Friday, 11 August in a jet belonging to a British multinational company, Lornho PLC. A spokesman for Lonrho confirmed that a company jet, which was in Lusaka on other business, flew Tambo to London, accompanied by a doctor and nurse. According to newspaper reports, Tambo was “being treated in a private London hospital and no information about his condition has been released”. Lornho PLC said it was happy to offer him a lift on the company jet, which had been in Lusaka, and that, “There was no hesitation. It was a matter of some considerable concern that he should get back to Britain as soon as possible. The plane was coming in this direction anyway.”
Previously, however, when Tambo failed to turn up on 10 August 1989 for a summit meeting on the eve of the signing of the Harare Declaration in Lusaka between the presidents of southern Africa’s
