Adelaide Frances Tambo (née Tshukudu; 18 July 1929 – 31 January 2007) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, political exile, and regarded as a hero of the liberation struggle against

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

. She was involved in South African politics for five decades and was married to the late Oliver Tambo, president of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

(ANC), from 1956 until his death in 1993.

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 a police officer was killed, and 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 and Orlando High in Soweto. Tambo started working as a nurse at the

Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, it is the largest hospital in Africa and third largest hospital in the world. It has 6,760 staff members, 3,400 beds and occupies . The hospital is located in the Sow ...

. In 1944, she worked as a courier for the

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

. She joined the ANC Youth League 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; af, ...

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 her husband. 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 Order of Simon of Cyrene is the highest award given by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa to laity for distinguished service. It was established in 1960, during the tenure of Archbishop Joost de Blank, following a proposal by Bishop ...

, 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 gu ...

and the couple had three children; one of whom, their son, Dali, is a television talk-show personality. Tambo died on 31 January 2007, aged 77 at her home in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, from undisclosed causes. She was buried next to her husband in her home town of

Wattville Wattville is a township south of Benoni in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1941, and by 1948, 400 houses were built on 34 hectares. After 1948, building stopped as it was threatened with destruc ...

on 10 February 2007. The service was held in a stadium and led by Anglican 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 in ...

. Among the thousands of mourners were presidents

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

and Nelson Mandela.

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 publish ...

'', 2 February 2007
Obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 2 February 2007
Obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 2 February 2007

Early career

Political career

Personal life and death

References

External links

Further reading