Helping people gave Adelaide Tambo pleasure
Madiba and heroine shared yesterday as their birthdays
Two Struggle icons who gave selflessly to the Struggle for freedom were celebrated on their birthdays yesterday.
Former president Nelson Mandela and Adelaide Tambo would have turned 99 and 88, respectively, yesterday.
To mark the Nelson Mandela International Day and celebrate his mother’s birthday, Dali Tambo, his wife Rachel and children visited the Adelaide Tambo School for the Physically Challenged in Jabavu, Soweto, where dozens of sponsors donated material and money towards the education of the more than 400 pupils at the school.
Speaking at the event, Tambo said: “My mother’s life was from a movie script. She was family orientated ... When she became an MP, she would still do community work.
“Whenever I gave her money, the next day she would ask for more ... [I would later find out that] she distributed the money to people. Helping people was part of what gave her pleasure,” he said.
His late father Oliver Tambo was ANC president. “This school was part of her gift. The last time we were here with her, she got a number of businessmen to donate a school bus.
“Because they shared this birthday, the tradition was that my mother and Madiba would call each other ... to us as a family, it was the birthday of this warrior queen ... and a community worker.”
Phuthanang Youth Trust trustee Modise Motloba said they donated R250 000, chess boards and additional funds towards yesterday’s event.
While the formal programme continued, employees from City of Johannesburg and City Parks cleaned the school yard and painted classrooms.
The school has received a library, two computer labs, two kombis, hundreds of thousands of rands and washing machines, among other things.
School principal Lindela Nemani said they were grateful for the donations. “We appreciate everything that has been done, big or small, because we know that it comes from the heart. The school caters for children’s boarding and some live at home. To me, Mandela Day means service, sacrifice, compassion and service to people who need to be served.”
Busisiwe Ndaba, 75, who attended the event, said: “I am encouraged to do more even at my age. I have never seen anything like this. People are united for one course.”
Adelaide’s grandchildren cut the two small cakes – one for her and another for Madiba.
At Ekujabuleni Kwabadala Care Centre in Orlando East, police and the community policing forum cleaned the home for the elderly. Vilakazi Street was abuzz with activity, with restaurants packed and people visiting Mandela House.