Oliver Tambo
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[[Image:Oliver Tambo statue Copyright2007KaihsuTai.jpg|thumb|left|A bust of [[Oliver Tambo]] at the [[OR Tambo International Airport]].]]
'''Oliver Reginald Tambo''' ([[27 October]] [[1917]] - [[24 April]] [[1993]]) was a [[South Africa]]n anti-[[apartheid]] politician and a central figure in the [[African National Congress]] (ANC). He was born in [[Bizana, Eastern Cape|Bizana]] in eastern [[Pondoland]] in what is now [[Eastern Cape]].
In [[1940]] he, along with several others including [[Nelson Mandela]], was expelled from [[Fort Hare University]] for participating in a student strike. In 1942 Tambo returned to his former high school in Johannesburg to teach science and mathematics.
Tambo, along with Mandela and [[Walter Sisulu]], was a founding member of the [[ANC Youth League]] in [[1943]], becoming its first National Secretary and later a member of the National Executive in 1948. The youth league proposed a change in tactics in the anti-apartheid movement. Previously the ANC had sought to further its cause by actions such as petitions and demonstrations; however, the Youth League felt these actions were insufficient to achieve the group's goals and proposed their own 'Programme of Action'. This programme advocated tactics such as boycotts, civil disobedience, strikes and non-collaboration.
In [[1955]] Tambo became Secretary General of the ANC after [[Walter Sisulu]] was banned by the South African government under the [[Suppression of Communism Act]]. In [[1958]] he became Deputy President of the ANC and in [[1959]] was served with a five year banning order by the government.
In response, Tambo was sent abroad by the ANC to mobilise opposition to [[apartheid]]. He settled with his family in [[Muswell Hill]], north London, where he lived until 1990. <ref> Ham and High (London) 11 October 2007 </ref> He was involved in the formation of the [[South African United Front]], which some believe helped bring about South Africa's expulsion from the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] in [[1961]]. In reality, South Africa became a republic in 1961 and voluntarily left the Commonwealth. In [[1967]], Tambo became Acting President of the ANC, following the death of Chief [[Albert Lutuli]]. In [[1985]] he was re-elected President of the ANC. He returned to South Africa in [[1991]] after over 30 years in exile, and was elected National Chairperson of the ANC in July of the same year. Tambo died due to complications from a stroke on [[April 24]], [[1993]].
In 2004 he was voted 31<small><sup>st</sup></small> in the [[SABC3's Great South Africans]], scoring lower than [[H.F. Verwoerd]], before the [[SABC]] decided to cancel the final rounds of voting, in light of the embarrassing results.
In late 2005, ANC politicians announced plans to rename [[Johannesburg International Airport]] after him. The proposal was accepted and the renaming ceremony occurred on [[October 27]], [[2006]]. The ANC dominated government had previously renamed [[Jan Smuts]] Airport to [[Johannesburg International Airport]] in 1994 on the grounds that South African airports should not be named after political figures.
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.anc.org.za/people/tambo_or.html ANC biography]
*[http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/tambo,o.htm SAHO biography]
Reception Honoring Oliver R. Tambo, New York, NY, January 23, 1987: Listen to the remarks by Oliver R. Tambo, Harry Belafonte and Jennifer Davis on the website of the African Activist Archive Project http://www.africanactivist.msu.edu/
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{{Persondata
|NAME=Tambo, Oliver Reginald
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[South Africa]]n [[politician]]
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[27 October]] [[1917]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Bizana, Eastern Cape|Mbizana]], [[Mpondoland]], [[South Africa]]
|DATE OF DEATH=[[24 April]], [[1993]]
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[South Africa]]
}}
{{ANCpresidents}}
[[Category:Presidents of the African National Congress]]
[[Category:Anti-apartheid activists|Tambo, Oliver]]
[[Category:South African politicians|Tambo, Oliver]]
[[Category:People from the Eastern Cape Province|Tambo, Oliver]]
[[Category:1917 births|Tambo, Oliver]]
[[Category:1993 deaths|Tambo, Oliver]]
[[Category:People from Muswell Hill]]
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