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26 October 2006

Your Honourable Lord Provost, Councillor Ms Liz Cameron;
ACTSA Scotland Chair and Glasgow Metropolitan College Vice-Principal, Brian Filling;
Honourable Councillors of the City of Glasgow;
Veterans of Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM)[1] and Members of ACTSA[2];
Council of Community HEART[3]
Friends of South Africa;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is indeed with humility and gratitude that I accepted the privilege to deliver the inaugural lecture of the late Oliver Tambo lecture series in the city of Glasgow tonight.

It is a fitting tribute to Oliver Tambo and his family, his wife Adelaide and his children Thembi, Dali and Tselani who surrendered him to the ANC and the struggle for national liberation.

In OR is a unique extra ordinary human being whose personality was moulded by the fusion and mixture of South African life. From the rural surroundings of Nkantolo in Pondoland of his early childhood with communal sharing in the extended family setting and the ethos of hard work and compassion was installed in his consciousness.

The ease with which he settled in the Johannesburg industrial hub of South Africa without losing touch of his rural beginning, armed him with deep appreciation of all aspects of his people suffering.

It is very rare in human history that a unique combination of skills can be found all wrapped up in one personality. Teacher, lawyer, composer, arranger, revolutionary, intellectual, internationalist and immensely spiritual OR was an extraordinary embodiment of all that is manifestly good in our world despite the bad and negative problems we face.

Nor does his greatness end there.

He ensured in his lifetime that reproduced himself manifold in his students, his lieutenants. By example he instilled a culture and values of community taking precedents over individualism. The organisation, the ANC being greater than any one individual. He commanded loyalty and commitment by always, being the indomitable and principled leader.

Any one of those scores of students, colleagues and comrades that crossed OR’s path will talk of him as if this African giant was their father alone, their brother alone, their uncle alone. His special gift to listen carefully to each and all. This quality was the converse side of the great communicator who imparted lessons that endeared him and still do and forever. The care and caring enough to find time and solutions to everyone’s one problem, however big or small was the hallmark of character because his love for his people and humanity was inexhaustible

A perfectionist, a true hero of the people. The tragedy is that South Africans were not allowed to know this remarkable leader since he lead the ANC during its exile and underground existence. He could not be seen or quoted in South Africa. Before I get into the substance of the lecture whose title is the International Legacy of Oliver Tambo.

Allow me to say that the people of Glasgow need not be reminded of the momentous decision they made in 1981 to grant the Freedom of this city –in honour of yet another icon of our struggle, Nelson Mandela – a comrade, brother, friend and colleague of Oliver Tambo.

It was the councillors of this city, who yet again in 1986, when repression in South Africa was at its highest, offered a glimmer of hope to our people, by renaming St. George’s Place as Nelson Mandela’s Place. Their confidence was not misplaced!

We indeed remember fondly, that it was in this very Chamber that Nelson Mandela, upon his release from Robben Island was able to receive the Freedom of this City.

I am restating this very history, not to satisfy some protocol requirements but to boldly state that during our hour of need the people of Glasgow did not abandon us.

Among friends of our struggle around the world, Oliver Tambo knew and knew too well that he could count on the people of Glasgow to offer us moral, material and political support to the struggle for freedom in our country.

If Oliver Tambo were alive today he would have reminded us of the biggest campaign launched in this city by the Glasgow Branch of the Anti-Apartheid Movement led by Brian Filling and others to demand the release of Nelson Mandela and all other political prisoners including the unbanning of the ANC

For this, Oliver Tambo would have directed that during our visit to Glasgow today, we extend our warmest greetings and gratitude to the people of Glasgow for the support and solidarity they offered us during the most difficult times of our struggle – including the cultural, education and trade union spheres.

He was a visionary who led our movement, the African National Congress, with outstanding success during the most trying times in our history. The barbarity of the apartheid system as well as the dangers that he faced throughout his life never caused him to flinch or to lose his determination to lead the liberation struggle and belief in the future of South Africa. 

Oliver Tambo led our movement with distinction because he believed strongly in the vision of an inclusive, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.  He saw the limited vision of those who thought they could break the spirit of a people yearning for their freedom.

In this regard he believed at all times that he had to strengthen the principled unity of our movement.

In 1955 he was among the pioneers of our movement who were responsible for drafting the Freedom Charter, that profound declaration on the future of South Africa. Explaining the Freedom Charter to the United Nations in 1955 he said “That statement, which declares South Africa belongs to all who live in it, is a drastic concession on the part of the African people, but is a demonstration of the willingness of the African people to live in South Africa with everybody who wants to live there on the basis of absolute equality – no racism, no racial discrimination, no superior race, no inferior race. On that basis South Africa belongs to all who live in it”. This was the inspiration that would characterise the work of Oliver Tambo throughout his life and the vision he laid for our movement and indeed for the new democratic South Africa.

Oliver Tambo, more than anyone among us, brought the cause of the people of South Africa to the world. After the massacre of innocent people protesting against pass laws in Sharpeville in 1960 and the outlawing of the of the national liberation movements, the ANC mandated Oliver Tambo to leave South Africa and lead the international campaign against apartheid.  It was therefore his steadfastness and clarity of vision reinforced by a superb intellect that helped to mobilise solidarity for our liberation struggle which later enjoyed support from all walks of life the world over. From all corners of the world people identified with the struggle against apartheid because of his consistent and tireless efforts.  

The Inaugural launch of the Oliver Tambo lecture in this city tonight is a fitting tribute to the role played by the people of Glasgow to help our people rid our country of the scourge of apartheid and racism.

Accordingly we should express our gratitude to honour Edinburgh and all other anti apartheid groups inn the length and breath of Scotland, England and Wales who welcomed us in their midst.
What is remarkable is that you have not demanded anything in return but continue to be with us as we face the new challenges of building a new democratic, non-racial non-sexist South Africa. You have remained with us as we embark of the task of reconstruction and development.
Oliver Tambo led the ANC throughout its underground and exile existence spanning three decades. He led its glorious army Umkhonto We Sizwe and created the precursor of the democratic government that today is South Africa.

South Africa’s foreign policy rests on the foundation built by OR.

Peace

OR was of the view that “the struggle for National liberation is by necessary definition, a struggle for peace and that peace is indivisible. For either, there is peace everywhere or there is no peace anywhere. A climate of world peace therefore provides a powerful inducement for the speedy resolution of regional conflicts through the removal by force or by consent, of the cause and source of conflicts. That is why our struggle is an inseparable component of the worldwide struggle for a world free of wars.

It is why even today South Africa feels it has an obligation and a responsibility to contribute to peace on the African continent.
That view informs us that there can be no peace in the world without peace in the Middle East.

The idea that peace is indivisible does mean that all humanity must strive for world peace.

South Africa believes that the world does not need nuclear weapons. We adhere to the 3 pillars of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. There should be no proliferation of nuclear arms. Those who already have them should disarm and that those who adhere to the NPT should have access to nuclear technology for peaceful use.
OR had this to say (in 1987 at the Celebration of the 76th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution) at a prospect of a treaty to be signed by the USSR and the USA
“This development has increased the confidence of the rest of humanity in the real possibility of ridding mankind completely of the threat of a nuclear war. It is our view that as long as there are nuclear weapons anywhere there will always be persistent threats of nuclear war or nuclear destruction haunting the whole of mankind.”

Emancipation Of Women

In South Africa we are striving according to our own Constitution for a non-racial and non sexist South Africa. The emancipation of women was very dear to OR’s heart. At the ANC Women’s conference held in 1981 outside of RSA, OR observed then that “If we are to engage our full potential in pursuit of revolutionary goals then, as revolutionaries we should stop pretending that women in our movement have the same opportunities as men”.

In 1985 OR and President Sam Nujoma made a joint pledge to the women of Namibia and South Africa, that they would not consider their objectives achieved, their task completed, or their struggle at an end until the women of South Africa and Namibia are fully liberated.

This is a revolutionary duty that OR has left us with – the full liberation of women; not only in Namibia and South Africa but of women of the world. The implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action; one of the central Millennium Development Goals of Women in decision making.

President Thabo Mbeki has started on the path of the emancipation of women and placing women in decision making. South Africa will not move away from this path and so should the international human family as a whole.

Culture

Oliver Tambo was a consummate producer and admirer of all forms of the arts. He understood the power of music or a picture and its potential to convey a message with almost immediate impact. He re-arranged the ANC anthem, Nkosi Sikelela iAfrika, to be performed for an African Heads of State Summit in Lusaka. After the rendition by the ANC choir with OR conducting, there was a tumultuous standing ovation with President Kaunda insisting on an encore.

Under Tambo’s leadership the ANC educated graphic artists, dramatists, instrumentalist, established the department of Arts and Culture that produced an quarterly publication Rixaka; Mayibuye based in London and Amandla Cultural Ensemble based in Luanda effectively used music drama , poetry to win over thousands of ANC supporters around the world; encouraged soldiers in Angola to paint, compose and to write poetry.  To have produced two publications by Women, Malibongwe, ANC Women Authors and One Never Knows, an anthology of short stories.

Under OR’s leadership all forms of cultural expressions became part of the arsenal in the struggle against apartheid.

Multilateralism

OR was an ardent believer in multilateralism. He worked very closely with the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the United Nations Organisations. South Africa today is very involved in building the African Union together with other countries. The launch of the AU was in South Africa.
The NAM has been hosted by South Africa and we have been active in its revitalisation.

In pursuit of South-South Co-operation we co-chair the forum of New Africa Asia Strategic Partnership (NAASP) in an endeavour to deepen understanding and economic, culture and academic cooperation between African and Asian countries.
The IBSA FORUM which is India Brazil and South Africa forum is also another example of South-South Co-operation.

South Africa will participate in the Security Council for the first time in 2007-2008. South Africa got 186 votes. We are benefiting today from the fruits of OR’s hard work, respect he commanded around the globe. At our acceptance of this responsibility we said, “We do so conscious and convinced that the multilateralism system of global governance remains the only hope for the challenges need a strong and reformed United Nations.

OR bequeathed South Africa and the world the Icon and hero of legendary proportion Nelson Mandela. He led the charge to Free Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners. This ensured that Nelson Mandela did not remain a household name only in South Africa but the world over. With consistency and constantly focused on the greatest mobilization of all time around a name until billions around the world took up the chant FREE NELSON MANDELA bursting out of Wembley Stadium, June 1986. It is OR Tambo with international crimes who orchestrated this irreversible blow to apartheid. The unprecedented outpouring of emotions on Mandela’s release and during his first tour around the world is inconceivable without the timeless daunting legwork if OR.

Yet even more remarkable was the manner in which OR was selfless almost self-effacing whilst elevating and upholding Mandela’s name from the highest heights. But OR could and did do this because he sincerely believed that upon release from prison he would relinquish the presidency of the ANC. This remained OR’s religiously held principle long before the stroke which eventually ended his illustrious life.

I am certain we will all agree that Oliver Tambo was indeed the father and architect of the very foundation of a democratic society we are building in his country of birth, South Africa.

Oliver Tambo did not impose on others and yet had clear conviction and was firm in defence of his principles. It is this streak of humility characteristic of his whole nature that most endeared Oliver Tambo to the people of South Africa and reinforced their own commitment to the cause he served with unsurpassed dedication and distinction.

Thus we remain committed to the vision that Oliver Tambo espoused in stating that “ We want the people of SA, black and white, people of all creeds, people of all shades of opinion, we want, in the first instance, to move away from the definition of humanity in terms of race and therefore to build a non-racial society in which people are not conscious of the colour of their own skin, a country in which we shall all be Africans because we are in Africa, we were born in Africa.

“Let us have a democratic South Africa. And our concept of democracy is colour blind, it is non racial, it is a democracy which involves participation by South Africans in the running and in the affairs of their country”

As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1946 Miners Strike we recall that Oliver Tambo always stressed the important and indispensable role of the working class in the struggle for liberation.  The 1946 Miners Strike is one of the milestones in our history as it entrenched the role of the workers as one of the principal motive forces of our struggle. Today in the new democratic South Africa we have various structures in which trade unions are full partners in the cooperative governance of our country.

In this context, Oliver Tambo, would have noted that today women in South Africa participate in decision-making structures throughout all levels of our society –be it political, economic, cultural, trade, sport etc.

Coming against the background of the 30th Anniversary of the 1976 Student uprisings in Soweto and elsewhere in our country, Oliver Tambo would have most certainly applauded the role our youth played in the cutting edge of the struggle for freedom, democracy and justice in our country.

The challenges facing the youth of today are fundamentally different from those faced by the youth of yesteryear including HIV and AIDS, drug misuse and crime.

We need to address these challenges frontally as they pose a threat to our very own democracy built on the sacrifices of millions of our people and solidarity of the peoples of the world.

As Nelson Mandela said we need to have addressed the moral fibre of our society and have the RDP of the Social, Reconstruction and Development.

The youth certainly must and should be part of the any solution developed in addressing challenges they face. For any solution developed outside of and imposed upon the youth would most certainly be doomed to fail.

Recognising that every generation has its historic mission to fulfil, Oliver Tambo would have expressed the confidence, that like their forebears, the youth of today in South Africa building on the experiences of their forebears in South Africa and indeed their counterparts the world over, will not abandon its mission!

That the political freedom we achieved in 1994 is underpinned by macro-economic stability and growth paths unseen before.

Despite this political freedom one of the main challenges facing us remains the need to address racial ownership patterns in our economy.

The people of our country are doing everything at their disposal to ensure a faster and shared economic growth, despite the massive challenges of skills shortage in our country.

We expressed an appreciation for the role your beloved country is playing in contributing to the flow of aid and foreign direct investments in our country.

More still needs to be done if we are to succeed in pushing back the frontiers of poverty and under-development in our country.

As millions of people around the world continue to live in conditions of abject poverty and under-development, Oliver Tambo would have asked what the international community is doing to democratise international finance institutions to enable them to respond to the plight of these millions who are knocking at the doors of the rich and powerful with begging bowls!

We would most probably respond in chorus and state boldly that there exist sufficient resources around the world to feed each and every soul, yet the world lacks the will and determination to confront these challenges with the view to the creation of sustainable and integrated development as well as the eradication poverty and under-development.

There is a need to establish, nurture and consolidate democracy and good governance and thus work for the eradication of poverty, the general upliftment of our people and the development of our continent.

As one of the central pillars of the renaissance of Africa, the need for democratic South Africa to remain part of the African leadership collective to assist the people of these conflict-ridden areas to develop peaceful means of resolving such conflicts for the sake of all our peoples including women and children.

However the majority of the peoples of our continent live in conditions of peace, stability and democracy and therefore only a tiny minority are today still engulfed by conflict and wars.

A firm basis has been laid in bringing about a fundamental socio-economic transformation of our continent through NEPAD, a proud product of the very Africans themselves.

In the global context, we have sought a meaningful role and place for our continent to avoid further marginalisation of Africa and Africans in a globalised world.

We extend a hand of friendship and solidarity with Africans in the Diaspora who stood with us through difficult moments, to give them an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the upliftment of their mother continent.

We are privileged to have shared our lives with this giant of our country, and to have learnt a great deal from him the basic teaching that all of us must remain committed the humble service of the people of our country, our continent and the world!

Today, in Glasgow among friends and colleagues of Oliver Tambo we commit ourselves not to betray his international legacy both in our efforts to rebuild our country into non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society and also in efforts aimed at the creation of a better Africa in a better world!

It is indeed sad that Oliver Tambo like Moses had “been to the mountain-top and had seen the promised land, yet never lived to see the freedom of his people” Nonetheless, we shall continue to draw inspiration from his teachings, his commitment and his dedication in the service of the people of our country in building that promised land for which he dedicated his entire life!

As we mark the birthday of Oliver Reginald Tambo this weekend we shall all be rededicating ourselves to the ideals and principles that he stood for. In South Africa we shall also be officially renaming our airport in Johannesburg the O.R. Tambo Airport.

I thank you.

Footnotes
1. Anti-Apartheid Movement.
2. ACTSA is ‘Action for Southern Africa’. It is the successor to the Anti Apartheid Movement and now campaigns for peace, democracy and development in Southern Africa.
3. Health, Education and Reconstruction Training.

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
26 October 2006