Keyword: Oliver Tambo

Oliver Tambo

Oliver Tambo was an influential figure in the African National Congress (ANC). In particular, he is known for his involvement in founding the ANC Youth League, along with Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu.

In 1944, Tambo became the first National Secretary of the ANC. And together with Sisulu, he had a hand in getting the ANC to adopt the Programme of Action, which encouraged black South Africans to participate in strikes, boycotts, and other forms of peace-seeking civil disobedience and non-violent resistance.

Following the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the ANC designated Tambo to travel abroad to advance the party’s objectives. The leader spent the next 30 years setting up missions and mobilizing international opinion against the apartheid government. Tambo finally returned to South Africa in 1991. At the ANC’s first legal national conference held since the party’s banning, he was elected National Chairperson. Tambo died from a stroke in April 1993, one year before fellow ANC party member, Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black president.

The Johannesburg International Airport was renamed OR Tambo International Airport in 2006.

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