OR Tambo: First Visit to the Soviet Union
On 9 April 1963, returning from a trip to the Soviet Union, based on the invitation of the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee, Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC), Oliver Tambo, described 5 April 1963, the day of his discussions with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in their Headquarters, in Moscow, as a historic day in the life of the South African people.
On that day, 5 April 1963, direct contact between the CPSU and the ANC leadership was established. Tambo had briefed members of the CPSU on the South African situation and the Movement’s needs arising from it. This was the first meeting between the Soviets and the leadership of the ANC, as opposed to the South African Communist Party (SACP), a close ally of the ANC, with whom the Soviets had longstanding relations.
Foundations in building regular relations between the Soviet Union and the SACP and the Congress Alliance were laid when official representatives of the South African communists went to Moscow in July 1960 and had meeting in the CPSU Headquarters. The SACP members were Yusuf Dadoo (Chairman of the SACP), who played an outstanding role in the Congress Alliance for many years, and Vella Pillay, who was the Party representative in Western Europe.
The visit in July 1960 was followed by another later in the year when an SACP delegation, headed again by Yusuf Dadoo and including Michael Harmel, Joe Matthews and Vella Pillay,
