Oliver Tambo: Victory or Death
(“Umkhonto we Sizwe – Born of the People”: Statement of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress Delivered by Commander-in-Chief OR Tambo on Heroes Day, 16 December 1986, on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe MK)
“This day 25 years ago bomb blasts in several main centres rocked South Africa. Thus was born Umkhonto we Sizwe, the People’s Army of our country.
“By that time the demands of our people were loud, persistent and clear: all our efforts as a people, the whole record of relentless struggle under the leadership of the African National Congress, were being met with ever-increasing violence and repression by the racist State. The time had arrived when we needed to reinforce our mass political action with the hammer blows of an armed struggle.
“The formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe was a response to these needs and the demands of our people. December 16, 1961, accordingly marked an historic turning point in our long march to freedom. With the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe our people were now better equipped to grasp history into their own hands.
“Born of the people, combatants of Umkhonto we Sizwe pledged themselves in our Manifesto to complement the actions of our national liberation movement by means of organised revolutionary violence. These past 25 years are a proud record of a risen people making their own history with their blood, sweat and tea
