Adelaide Frances Tambo (77), widow of former African National Congress president Oliver Tambo, died on Wednesday night, the party confirmed. ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said Ma Tambo, as she was affectionately known, collapsed at her home in Johannesburg.
”President Thabo Mbeki has, on behalf of the people and government of the Republic of South Africa, expressed his sadness and deepest condolences to the family of Adelaide Tambo who passed away earlier tonight,” Mukoni Ratshitanga said in a statement from the Presidency.
Ratshitanga said Mbeki had been in contact with some of Tambo’s relatives.
”Starting from 1944 when she began working for the African National Congress as a courier, Ma Tambo devoted her entire adult life to the struggle against apartheid and the creation of a democratic non-racial and non-sexist society.
”As well as being a pillar of support to her late husband and president of the ANC, the late Oliver Tambo, Ma Tambo contributed to the struggle immensely as an activist in her own right.”
Ratshitanga said Ma Tambo was a founder member of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement and the Pan-African Women’s Organisation (Pawo).
She also worked with the International Defence and Aid Fund to identify and financially assist some of the families whose children left South Africa after the 1976 uprising.
Tambo was one of the first democratically elected members of Parliament in 1994.
”It is with deep regret and a profound sense of loss that the African National Congress has learnt of the death this evening of Adelaide Tambo, widow of the late ANC president Oliver Tambo and an outstanding stalwart of our movement,” said Ngonyama.
”Unfortunately we cannot confirm [the cause of death] until we receive proper scientific evidence,” he said.
Early media reports said that Tambo died as a result of a heart condition.
Amina Cachalia, a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle and a friend of the Tambos’ for many years, said she was saddened by the news of her old friend’s death. ”It’s terribly sad that one of our colleagues from that time has passed away,” she told the Mail & Guardian Online on Thursday morning.
Cachalia described Tambo as ”a very dedicated woman” who was deeply committed to her family, especially in the years that her husband was working within the liberation movement.
”She was politically involved as well, but not to the extent of her husband … she kept the home fires burning … she did that early in her life, and she carried on looking after people even while they were in exile.
”[Tambo] was a very down-to-earth person, she was an ordinary, friendly, lovable person, and she carried on her charitable work until the end,” Cachalia said.
Ngonyama said the presidency of the ANC and its officials were notified of Tambo’s death by her son Dali.
”The ANC joins all South Africans in mourning the loss of a true heroine of our nation, a daughter of our soil who dedicated her life to the freedom of our people.
”Together with all South Africans, the ANC extends heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the Tambo family on this great loss.”
He said that Tambo’s strength, compassion and determination served as inspiration to generations of freedom fighters throughout ”the most difficult times of the struggle for democracy”.
Tambo is survived by three children, Tembi, Dali and Tselane, and several grandchildren.
Meanwhile, friends and colleagues have been streaming to her Hyde Park home in Johannesburg to pay their last respects, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday.
Chief Justice Pius Langa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Charles Nqakulu, the Minister of Safety and Security, and Jeff Radebe, Transport Minister, were among those to console the Tambo family. – Sapa