Mr Oliver Tambo’s bust was sculpted by the late Mr Ian Walters. Photograph courtesy Haringey Council.
October 19 – A bust of the former African National Congress (ANC) president, the late Mr Oliver “OR” Tambo, was unveiled yesterday in London, in a park near the former home of Mr Tambo, his wife Adelaide and their family.
The bust was unveiled by South Africa’s First Lady, Mrs Zanele Mbeki, Haringey Council leader Councillor George Meehan and the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Mr Jack Straw.
Mr Straw said at the tribute, “The lasting legacy of Oliver Tambo does not rest in this memorial, as great as it is. Nor does it lie in the prosperous and free future South Africa can now enjoy.
“His legacy will be in the hope he has offered to many across the world who struggle against oppressive dictatorships. And the conviction that the sacrifice of a few can bring about a great change for the many.”
Ms Zenani Mandela, Mr Mandela’s daughter, read out a speech by her father. Mr Mandela said that, when he and Oliver Tambo visited Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square in 1962, they half-joked that perhaps one day their statues would be erected in London.
That wish has now become a reality for both of them as the unveiling of Mr Tambo’s memorial comes two months after a statue of Mr Mandela was unveiled in London.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement that Mr Tambo’s vision of a democratic and non-racial South Africa was an inspiration to millions of people across the world.
The bust was sculpted by the late Mr Ian Walters, who also sculpted Mr Mandela’s statue in London’s Parliament Square.
Mr Tambo, as the President of the ANC until Nelson Mandela was elected to the post in 1991, was the person who established and led the movement in exile for 30 years, thereby laying the foundations for a democratic South Africa. For many years he was exiled in London and Lusaka, and led the struggle from the London borough of Haringey, where the memorial was unveiled.
Remembered: A plaque was unveiled on the house in Muswell Hill, North London, which was the Tambo family house. Photograph courtesy Haringey Council.
Mr Jack Straw and Mrs Zanele Mbeki unveil the bust of Oliver Tambo. Photograph courtesy Haringey Council.