Mandela leads tributes to Adelaide Tambo

The former South African president Nelson Mandela today paid tribute to his friend and fellow anti-apartheid campaigner Adelaide Tambo, who died yesterday.

Ms Tambo, the widow of the African National Congress hero Oliver Tambo, died at her home in Johannesburg, an ANC statement said. She was 77.

Like her husband, Ms Tambo - who was affectionately known as Ma Tambo or Mama Adelaide - was a lifelong political activist.

Mr Mandela, who shared her birthday, said he mourned the "passing away of a close personal friend, a comrade and one of the great heroines of our nation".

"She was a mother to the liberation movement in exile, and a nationally revered figure in our new nation," he said in a statement released by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. "We pay tribute to a life dedicated to freedom and service."

The foundation said Mr Mandela was in Mozambique but would return to Johannesburg to offer his condolences and support to the Tambo family.

As family and friends gathered at their home, prominent figures throughout South African life paid tribute.

The Anglican archbishop, Njongonkulu Ndungane, said Ms Tambo was a woman of great dignity and courage, the South African Press Association reported.

"I myself have sought her wise counsel many times," he added. "She always showed great concern for the poor and for the moral values of the nation."

The British high commissioner, Paul Boateng, said Ms Tambo had left a huge gap in the lives of many in South Africa, Africa and the UK. "Her place in history and all our hearts is assured and her memory will live on forever," he said.

Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, said Ms Tambo's death "amounts to a loss to the entire country and the international community".

In her later years, Ms Tambo was an impassioned advocate of rights for the elderly and the disabled. She remained active in the ANC, but watched in anguish as South Africa was blighted by violence and HIV.

"I am 77 years old. The majority of women in this country are my children. Why are you not fighting for me?" she said in a speech to mark the 50th anniversary of a landmark anti-apartheid march by women last August.

Born on July 18 1929, Ms Tambo became involved in politics at the age of 10 when her 82-year-old grandfather was arrested in a police raid following a riot in which an officer had been killed.

He collapsed and, as she waited for him to regain consciousness, she decided to devote her life to the fight against white racist rule.

Five years later, she began working for the ANC as a courier while still studying. She joined the ANC Youth League, and was almost immediately elected as its chair. She met her future husband at the launch of a new youth league branch, agreeing to marry him in 1956. Three weeks before their wedding, he was arrested and charged, along with 155 other ANC members, including Mr Mandela, with high treason.

The wedding went ahead four days after the suspects were released on bail. The trial lasted for more than three years, ending in the acquittal of all the accused.

The Tambos fled from South Africa to London in 1960, acting on the advice of other ANC activists. While living in the UK, Ms Tambo helped the families of other exiles, working working as a nurse to support her family.

She is survived by three children, Thembi, Dali and Tselane.