The intellectual and cultural history of South Africa in the twentieth century is characterized by fascinating intellectual friendships at the moment of the construction of South African modernity: R. V. Selope Thema/ H. Selby Msimang, H. I. E. Dhlomo/Benedict Wallet Vilakazi, Anton Lembede/A. P. Mda, just to name a few. That between Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo also belongs to this high level of moral purpose. Mandela’s funeral speech on the occasion of the burial of Tambo on May 2nd, 1993, in Johannesburg, articulated its historical vision: “A great giant who strode the globe like a colossus has fallen. A mind whose thoughts have opened the doors to our liberty has ceased to function. A heart whose dreams gave hope to the despised has for ever lost its beat. The gentle voice whose measured words of reason shook the thrones of tyrants has been silenced. Peoples of the world! Here lies before you the body of a man who is tied to me by an umblical cord which cannot be broken. We say he has departed. But can we allow him to depart while we live! Can we say Oliver Tambo is no more, while we walk this solid earth! Oliver lived not because he could breathe. He lived not because blood flowed through his veins. Oliver lived not because he did all the things that all of us as ordinary men and women do. Oliver lived because he had surrended his very being to the people. He lived because his very being embodied love, an idea, a hope, an aspiration, a vision.” This great praise is well-deserved because it was Oliver Tambo who held together the African National Congress (ANC) in exile from the moment of its banning in March 1960 to its unbanning in February 1990. From 1967 Oliver Tambo was the president of ANC until he relinguished his position to Nelson Mandela on July 6, 1991. Mandela had been released from a 27-year imprisonment on February 11, 1990. On accepting the presidency of the organization at the 48th National Conference of the ANC on July 6, 1991 in Durban, Nelson Mandela honored Oliver Tambo with these words: “You have entrusted me with the presidency of the ANC. It is a daunting task. In February last year shortly after I was released from prison I travelled all the way to Sweden to visit Comrade Oliver Tambo as he was recuperating in a clinic. One of the first things I told him was that in view of his state of health he was no longer in a position to carry out his duties as President. He then offered to resign from that post. I pointed out to him that it was not necessary for him to do so. He must give himself and ourselves a chance to let him carry out his duties and those of us who had worked with him over the years would see how his duties were carried out in his absence, and that if by the next conferenceof the ANC he still felt that he could not discgarge his duties, he should leave the matter entirely until the next conference. Although he tried to persuade me I staunchly refused to accede to his request. However, as I told you the other day, he again approached the NEC [the National Executive Commettee of the ANC] and indicated that he was not available to serve. We then released him. You have now given me this responsibility. It will not be very easy for me to follow the giant steps of Comrade OR. Comrade OR, who is affectionately known as Chief to his comrades, paved the way forward with gold, the gold of his humanity, his warmth, his democratic spirit, tolerance and above all intellectual brilliance, which in the end outwitted the racists in this country. Of course, comrades, no struggle can depend on one person. The struggle is basically a collective affair. But there are exceptions to every rule, and looking at the history of the 30 last years of exile, one may be tempted to think that Comrade OR is that exception. As I pointed out, I know his humility, I will not continue to embarass him by with further praise; it is sufficient to say there is not enough rain in the skies for us to be able to shower on him the honour he deserves.” The strategic thinking of Oliver Tambo which Nelson Mandela praises so highly in this statement, is clearly evident in Tambo’s writings: Oliver Tambo Speaks: Preparing For Power (1988). In the Foreword to the book, which was smuggled out of prison, Nelson Mandela writes: “It is an extraordinary exercise for a man to write an introduction to a book he has not seen, an exercise which may degenerate into inaccurate generalizations. All that I know is that the book is a collection of Oliver’s speeches and, at the moment of writing, I have not even the barest information as to exactly where and when the speeches were made, the actual issues discussed and the title of the book. He is a banned person, and in terms of South African law what he says may not be published. For this reason it has not been possible to keep track of his speeches during the 26 years in which he has been in exile. . . Fortunately the task is made relatively easy by the fact that the theme and quality of Oliver’s speeches are fairly predictable. As a student, school teacher and lawyer, he established a solid reputation as a clear thinker and accomplished speaker, a reputation which became a valuable asset when he turned politician. He speeches and writings will in all probability include a detailed review of the current political situation in South Africa, the kind of society for which the people are fighting, the unity of the people, the preservation of an alliance between the ANC and SACP, the combination of legal and illegal struggle, the mapping out of the short- and long-term goals of the ANC, the strength and weaknesses of the organization and enemy, the prosecution of the armed struggle, tribute to the brave heroes who have fallen in the battlefield and who have been captured by the enemy and those who are operating inside the country against heavy odds, the importance of sanctions against South Africa, mass mobilization, violence amongst the people, negotiation with the government, the significance of the successive South African delegations to Lusaka, relations with our neighbouring states and the rest of the world.” This deep and far-sighted thinking of Oliver Tambo in this extract from the political report of the National Executive Committee of the ANC to the Morogoro Consultative Conference in Tanzania, on 25 April-1 May 1969: “The vital and central tasks of the African National Congress today is the intensification of the armed struggle for the overthrow of the white fascist regime and the liberation of our motherland. Today armed struggle together with other forms of struggle constitute the weapons of the oppressed in our countryagainst the oppressor. How can we intensify the revolution? What forms of organization can ensure the maximum mobilization of all the resources at our disposal? What are the motive forces of our struggle and their potential? What strategy and tactics are to be employed? These are some of the problems and questions that require our consideration and solution. Our struggle is being waged in a complex and difficult national and international situation. The correct solution of the problems of our revolution requires a proper understanding of the international as well as the national siruation. This involves a correct assessment of the strenbth and weaknesses of the enemy and its imperialist allies, as well as our own strength and weaknesses, our potential and that of the whole anti-imperialist forces. . . The African Revolution has had a tremendous impact on the world. It has swept aside the hollow myth of white rule based on alleged superiority of the white over the black. in the world forums the rapid appearance of African states has tilted the balance against the former imperialist states. . . For us the main strategic question is to see that the guerilla struggle spreads to South Africa itself. When that happens the dispersal of the enemy will in strategic terms be complete. This is not to say that the enemy will in fact be tactically dispersed. This depends on how widespread and effective guerilla war is throughout southern Africa. But clearly we need to disperse the forces of white supremacy throughout the region both in territorial terms and in numbers of engagements. For this we need to launch the struggle at home” (in Oliver Tambo Speaks: Preparing For Power). The Morogoro Consultative Confernce was the most important event in 30-year exile historical experience of the African people. Oliver Tambo was at his greatest, politically and intellectually, at this arguably one of the greatest events in South African history.