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Authentic Conversations with Oliver Tambo

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Authentic Conversations with Oliver Tambo & DAILY NEWS PAGE 9 VIEWS ANALYSIS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 1 2017 Oliver Tambo was a thinker and a ‘natural democrat’, writes Dougie Oakes N SUNDAY, March 27, of all Africans, from the Medi- 1960, two men set off terranean Sea in the north to on a perilous 1 400km the Indian and Atlantic oceans Ojourney by car from in the south… and that Af- Cape Town to Johannesburg. ricans must speak with one It was six days after the mas- voice.” sacre of 69 people in the East But in setting up his “mis- Rand township of Sharpeville sion in exile”, Tambo quickly and the security apparatus of realised that if apartheid were the apartheid state was ruth- to be defeated, help would be lessly wielding its weapons of needed from many sources in suppression against opponents many countries. of National Party policies. He quickly showed his ma- One man was black, the jor strength was his ability to other white. resolve different – and, often, One was a reckless critic difficult – problems faced by of apartheid. The other a deep the organisation. thinker and careful planner. Initially seen as uncharis- Oliver Tambo was the driver matic and overly conservative, of the vehicle – the chauffeur. he proved to have an analytical He was dressed in a white uni- mind and the ability to see form, cap and gloves. With him and understand other points was Ronald Segal, the editor of of view within the ANC – espe- Africa South, a liberal journal. cially the ANC in exile. One of the new generation Thus, Albie Sachs described of ANC members, Tambo’s him as a “natural democrat”. instruction was to flee South Bridgitte Mabandla was en- Africa in anticipation of a chanted by his ability to see post-Sharpeville crackdown by men and women as equals. the apartheid authorities and Jacob Zuma admired his to set up an ANC “mission in “rural wisdom”. And Jonas exile”. Gwanga was impressed by his After a quick goodbye to his love of music. wife, Adelaide, and children, But even with these diplo- Thembi and Dali, in the East matic skills, he faced a difficult Rand township of Wattville, task. he set off on his journey. The In the beginning, Tambo’s almost four-hour drive to the biggest problem was the disin- British Protectorate of Bech- terest of big Western powers, uanaland went without inci- most notably the UK and US. Trucks transport coffins to the graves of victims of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre. dent. When the ANC started an A young journalist named armed struggle against the Frene Ginwala was the organi- apartheid regime, both the UK ser-in-chief of his journey out and the US condemned the or- of the protectorate. It involved ganisation as a tool of com- organising travel documents munism and the then-Soviet for him via the Indian consul Union. ‘We asked in Kenya and by the time these In the 1980s, British prime came, Tambo had touched minister Margaret Thatcher down in Malawi and flown to described the ANC as “a typ- Tanganyika and Tunisia, be- ical terrorist organisation”. fore travelling to Rome. Realising he was in for The ANC’s new “roving am- the long haul, Tambo showed bassador” was ready to begin exemplary patience in ex- whites to his mission for a non-racial, plaining the ANC’s position democratic South Africa. on issues such as violence and Tambo was one of a group the South African economy. of ANC members who, through In 1982, responding to a the formation of the ANC question about the ANC’s rela- Youth League (ANCYL), had tionship with the Soviet Union, dragged a reluctant and mori- Tambo said: “The Soviet Union bund parent body into a new has no influence on the ANC join us’ era where action to the point any more than Canada has. of breaking apartheid laws What has really happened is would have to take precedence that we found ourselves, dec- from the Soviet Union has no elled to London to conduct an bership from the beginning. over petitions and delegations ades ago, fighting against ra- meaning whatsoever in south- interview with the ANC leader “But ANC members who to move South Africa’s black cism and relatively weak. ern Africa. – and published it, much to the are also members of the Com- Former ANC president Oliver Tambo, centre, with Nelson Mandela and Adelaide Tambo at the people in the direction of free- “We went in search of “There would be no assist- chagrin of its proprietors. He munist Party make a very clear 48th ANC conference in January 1991. PICTURE: SUNDAY TRIBUNE ARCHIVES dom. friends, to Canada, the United ance for anyone without these was sacked soon afterwards. distinction between these two The youth league’s mani- States, Europe, India and else- weapons. That’s what ordin- Readers of the Cape Times independent bodies,” he said. Questioned about what fu- did met with the approval of heid Movement member Bob festo, compiled by, among where. Some received us well. ary people think. Where would were provided with an intrigu- “We co-operate a lot, the ture he saw for whites in South his allies overseas. Hughes backed Huddlestone. others, Anton Lembede, Nel- Some were lukewarm. Some we be without that assistance? ing insight into the thinking ANC is accepted by the Com- Africa, he said: “All of us in the In 1990, he returned to He warned that there should son Mandela, Walter Sisulu, turned us down. Could we go to Washington?” of Tambo. munist Party as leading the ANC have always considered South Africa after 30 years in not be a “too hasty” accept- Peter Mda, Jordan Ngubane “The Soviet Union gave sup- But ordinary South Afri- One of the major issues for struggle. There is absolute that whites, like ourselves, be- exile and, surprisingly, called ance of the process towards and Tambo, showed the typical port. So did other countries – cans were given very little in- South Africans, fed an almost loyalty to that position. It is long to our country. We took for the ANC’s sanction policies democracy. optimism of young bloods. Sweden, for example. Sweden formation about the struggles daily reading and watching often suggested that the ANC is the earliest opportunity to dis- to be re-evaluated. He said it would be diffi- “Africa’s cause must tri- gave us assistance without of Tambo and the banned ANC diet of “rooi gevaar”, was the controlled by the Communists. pel the notion that we were The British Anti-Apart- cult to sustain any new action umph,” it declared in big, bold strings, except that no funds in exile. ANC’s relationship with Com- That has never been true. fighting to drive the whites out. heid Movement leader, Trevor against the apartheid govern- capital letters. And it added: may be used to buy guns. And then, in November munism. “As for the charge that we We have asked whites to join Huddlestone, immediately ment if sanctions were relaxed “We believe that the national “The Soviet Union does not 1985, Tambo suddenly ap- “It is true that the ANC has are controlled by the Soviet us in the struggle to get rid of voiced his disagreement and – and it would be very difficult liberation of Africans will be have to say that because it gives peared on the front page of the members of the Communist Union, that is also propaganda. the tensions that come with the instead called for sanctions to to reimpose them. achieved by Africans them- us the guns. The supposed Cape Times newspaper. Party,” Tambo said. “There has There is a lot of exaggeration apartheid system.” be maintained. But his warning was ig- selves… We believe in the unity stigma of getting assistance Its editor, Tony Heard, trav- been an overlapping of mem- about terrorism,” he said. Not everything that Tambo Labour MP and Anti-Apart- nored. ers who can salvage the mess we of the current political malaise are in and lead us to the prom- into a beautiful symphony of ised land. respect for all. With this hope, Authentic conversations I have hope. It is a hope we will be able to work together, deeply rooted in the belief that to experiment together, to design, the majority of South Africans build, create, perform together, to are full of promise and wish stand up for democracy together, with Oliver Tambo and the best for the future of their knowing full well that our future country and children. bodes well. I have hope that with your Yours in anticipation… intervention and a guiding While the above missive other Struggle heroes moral compass the country is an imaginary one, it does has the capacity and competence embody an authentic conver- to chart a new future for all its sation about the wretched state DHIRU SONI majority of our population is dition of our country under people. I have hope that your of South Africa. In reality, we still marginalised and inequal- the present leadership which mission to reduce inequalities do make things true by what PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela ities have grown wider. unashamedly continues to rule and poverty will be reinstated we say – things and people are uttered these famous words Twenty-three years later, for self-interest and divides the and once again become a bear- what we call them. We are what during his memorable inaug- the majority of our population nation in myriad ways. ing point for our development we say and others are what we uration of a new democratic is still poverty stricken in the That the promise of recon- trajectory, which will be devoid say about them.
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