Adelaide Frances Tambo (née Tshukudu; 18 July 1929 – 31 January 2007) was a South African anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

activist and former political exile. She was involved in South African politics for five decades and was married to

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Childhood Oliver Tambo was ...

, president of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC), from 1967 to 1991. She was well-known for her role in the struggle against apartheid.

Early career

Born on 18 July 1929 in Top Location as Adelaide Frances Tshukudu, she was affectionately known as ''Mama Tambo'' in South Africa. At the age of 10, following a raid by the police on a riot in Top Location where a police officer was killed, Adelaide's ailing grandfather, aged 82, was among those arrested and taken to the town square. Her grandfather collapsed and she had to sit with him until he regained consciousness. After the incident, she vowed to fight the police till the end. She attended the St Thomas Practising School in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and Orlando High in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

. Tambo started working as a nurse at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. In 1944, she worked as a courier for the ANC. She joined the

ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (N ...

at 18, which she was tasked to open branches in

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

and elected chairperson of the George Goch branch. She left the country along with her husband Oliver Tambo in 1960 and worked as a courier for him. She was also one of the founding members of Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement and Pan African Women's Organization (PAWO) in 1963.

Political career

Following the end of apartheid, Tambo served as a member of parliament from 1994 to 1999. Tambo received the Order of the Baobab in Gold, one of the highest honours bestowed by the post-1994 South African government. The South African Anglican Church awarded her the Order of Simon of Cyrene, the highest award given to laypeople for distinguished service."Anti-apartheid stalwart mourned"
''

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

'', 10 February 2007

Personal life and death

Tambo was married to Oliver Tambo in December 1956 during the

Treason Trial The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956. The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not g ...

and the couple had three children; their son Dali is a television talk-show personality. Tambo died on 31 January 2007, aged 77, at her home in Johannesburg from undisclosed causes. She was buried next to her husband in her home town of Wattville on 10 February 2007. The service was held in a stadium and led by

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Archbishop

Njongonkulu Ndungane Njongonkulu Winston Hugh Ndungane (born 2 April 1941) is a retired South African Anglican bishop and a former prisoner on Robben Island. He was the Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman and Archbishop of Cape Town. Early life Ndungane was born i ...

. Among the thousands of mourners were presidents

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

and

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

References

External links

Obituary
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 2 February 2007
Obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 2 February 2007
Obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 2 February 2007

Early career

Political career

Personal life and death

References

External links

Further reading