Tambo’s consummate leadership steered SA to freedom – O R Tambo Month

As the sun sets on the month of October, the City of Ekurhuleni is wrapping up its Oliver Reginald Tambo month celebrations.

On October 27 it hosted a wreath laying ceremony for both Oliver and Adelaide Tambo at the Tamboville Cemetery, in Wattville Benoni.

“This year marks 21 years since O R’s passing, yet his contribution towards the liberation of South Africa is still celebrated with enthusiasm,” said the metro’s communications and brand management’s spokesman, Themba Radebe.

“The laying of wreaths may seem a minor gesture, but in this instance it goes beyond just a ceremony to sharing lessons learnt from the life of a selfless man.”

O R was a loyal servant of the people who became a roving ambassador for the African National Congress (ANC).

“He put the lives of marginalised people before him and made the world his home with an objective of seeing South Africa free from apartheid,” explained Radebe.

“It is for that reason that Monday’s ceremony saw the likes of the former President of Malawi, Doctor Joyce Banda and delegates from Lusaka, Zambia and Botswana gather in his memory.”

Deputy President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa and Gauteng Premier David Makhura also joined Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor, Cllr Mondli Gungubele, and the Tambo family at the annual event.

Gungubele described the ceremony as the stage on which South Africa is pursuing the immortalisation of the memory of Oliver and Adelaide.

Deputy President, Ramaphosa, did not hold any punches as he spoke of O R’s character, describing him as a man who loved his family and a giant who saw himself as nothing else but a servant.

“O R and Adelaide are legends of the liberation struggle, we should remember what they stood for. We as South African would not have been where we are today if it was not for O R and Adelaide,” he said.

“They were the type of people who lived their lives to advance other people’s lives, they left a huge legacy and made a positive impact on our lives.”

Former Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe echoed on Ramaphosa’s statements during his delivery of the O R Tambo lecture later that evening.

“To speak of comrade O R’s contribution to our attainment of freedom as a nation is to engage in an anatomy of the art of leadership,” he said.

“A statesman, revolutionary, legal mind and deeply religious being, O R exercised consummate leadership during the historical period in South Africa which the English philosopher, Thomas Paine, would have had in mind when he said ‘these are the times that try men’s soul’.”

“Oliver Reginald Tambo’s name will reverberate through the passage of time as one of the 20th century’s exemplars of civilising humanism.”

“Along with those who came before and after him, he succeeded to challenge the nature of given reality,” concluded Motlanthe.