Olivier Tambo

In the 1940s the ANC's Youth League transformed the organisation into a defiant, mass-based force fighting for freedom. Olivier Tambo was a prominent member of that Youth League. But his most important role was still to come. In 1960 the South African Government banned the ANC. Tambo was appointed to continue the ANC's fight - from outside the country. During this time he helped strengthen the ANC's organisation and assisted in establishing underground structures inside the country. He brought the struggle for liberation in South Africa to the attention of the rest of the world and in so doing won the admiration and the support of all those he came into contact with. Thirty years later Tambo returned to his motherland and handed the ANC back to the people, intact and triumphant.