Oliver Tambo - Early Life

Early Life

Oliver Tambo was born on 27 October 1917, his father was Mzimeni and his mother was his third wife called Julia. He was born in the village of Kantolo in Bizana in eastern Pondoland in what is now Eastern Cape. He went to school at Holy Cross Mission School, and then transferred to St. Peters in Johannesburg. After matriculation he qualified to do his university degree at Fort Hare University. 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; 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 1977 Tambo signed the first solidarity agreement between ANC and a Municipality, the relationship starts a relevant strength of the struggle against apartheid. The Italian town of Reggio nell'Emilia was the first city in the world to sign a pact of solidarity.

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. He was involved in the formation of the South African Democratic Front. 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 aged 75 due to complications from a stroke on 24 April 1993.