Getrude Makhafola
Getrude Makhafola
Hundreds of dignitaries and ordinary people attended the unveiling of a tombstone of the two foremost political stalwarts of Wattville in Benoni, Ekurhuleni.
Oliver Reginald Tambo and his wife Adelaide, who are buried side by side, were honoured in the township yesterday.
Transport Minister Jeff Radebe, Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan, Essop Pahad, Graça Machel, Frene Ginwala, businessman Patrice and his wife Dr Precious Motsepe, Ekurhuleni mayor Helen Mekgwe and former mayor Duma Nkosi were in attendance.
Radebe said the two veterans unselfishly glued the ANC together in exile.
"OR mobilised international support when the organisation was under siege back home; they both kept us together through the years," he said.
Their son Dali said there would be no Oliver without Adelaide.
"She was his source of strength and they were both deeply committed to the course of liberation. They spent most of their lives apart but they are lying here together forever. They considered themselves servants of the people."
He said the tombstone should not only serve as a tourist attraction, but as a place for the community to come for solace and refuge.
Tambo, the ANC's longest serving president (1967-1990), died in 1993 and his wife in 2007.
Tambos 'together forever'
Getrude Makhafola
Getrude Makhafola
Hundreds of dignitaries and ordinary people attended the unveiling of a tombstone of the two foremost political stalwarts of Wattville in Benoni, Ekurhuleni.
Oliver Reginald Tambo and his wife Adelaide, who are buried side by side, were honoured in the township yesterday.
Transport Minister Jeff Radebe, Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan, Essop Pahad, Graça Machel, Frene Ginwala, businessman Patrice and his wife Dr Precious Motsepe, Ekurhuleni mayor Helen Mekgwe and former mayor Duma Nkosi were in attendance.
Radebe said the two veterans unselfishly glued the ANC together in exile.
"OR mobilised international support when the organisation was under siege back home; they both kept us together through the years," he said.
Their son Dali said there would be no Oliver without Adelaide.
"She was his source of strength and they were both deeply committed to the course of liberation. They spent most of their lives apart but they are lying here together forever. They considered themselves servants of the people."
He said the tombstone should not only serve as a tourist attraction, but as a place for the community to come for solace and refuge.
Tambo, the ANC's longest serving president (1967-1990), died in 1993 and his wife in 2007.
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