Oliver Tambo: Let Us Rise to the Occasion
(Extracts of a Speech by Comrade President O. R. Tambo on the Occasion of January 8th, 1980, 68th Anniversary of the African National Congress of South Africa)
“The need for the unity of the patriotic and democratic forces of our country has never been greater than it is today. Last year, on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the formation of the African National Congress, which we described then, as we do now, as the expression of the unity of the oppressed, we invited all our countrymen in their various organisational formations to seek and find ways of cooperation and collaboration in the quest for justice in our country.”
“Are we, however, more united today than we were this time last year? So vital is unity to our victory that this question demands an honest answer. Let us therefore start with the ANC itself which, as we have said, constitutes the expression of the unity of the oppressed. To put the matter in other words any division within the ANC inevitably leads to division among the people.”
“As the embodiment of the liberation forces of our country, deriving that historic role from its foundation by our forebears, and maintained as such by the subsequent generations that have served and continue to serve in its ranks, the ANC has, since our call last year, sought to carry out its duty to bring together all our countrymen in their various organisational formations and to enhance the level of coopera
