Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo

The Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo is a South African honour.[1] It was instituted on 6 December 2002, and is granted by the President of South Africa to foreign citizens who have promoted South African interests and aspirations through co-operation, solidarity, and support.

Order of the
Companions of O. R. Tambo
Badge (c. 2002)
Awarded by President of South Africa
TypeNational Order
StatusCurrently constituted
Grades
  • Supreme Companion
  • Grand Companion
  • Companion
Statistics
First induction10 December 2002
Total inductees110

Ribbon bar of the Order

The order is named after the late Oliver Tambo, who was the African National Congress's president-in-exile for many years.

Walking stick awarded with Order

Current classes

The three classes of appointment to the Order are, in descending order of precedence:

  • Supreme Companion of OR Tambo in gold, for heads of state and, in special cases, heads of government (SCOT)
  • Grand Companion of OR Tambo in silver, for heads of government, ministers of state, supreme court judges, presidents of legislatures, secretaries of state, ambassadors, commanders-in-chief (GCOT)
  • Companion of OR Tambo in bronze, for legislators, envoys, senior military officers (COT)

Symbolism

The badge of the order is oval, and depicts a symbol similar to that of the Taijitu between two arrowheads, framed by two mole snakes.[1] The symbol represents the meeting of diverse spiritual energies, and the snakes represent solidarity and support. The South African coat of arms is displayed on the reverse.

The ribbon is white, with recurring grey symbols down the centre. All three classes are worn around the neck.

Recipients are also presented with a carved wooden walking stick, which has a serpent wound around the shaft and a spoon-shaped head displaying the badge of the order and the national arms. The walking stick symbolises support and solidarity, and a commitment to stand by the recipient in return.

Recipients
Name Grade Awarded
Sweden Olof Palme SCOT 10 December 2002[2]
Zambia Kenneth David Kaunda SCOT 10 December 2002
India Mahatma Gandhi SCOT 10 December 2002
Mozambique Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane SCOT 16 June 2004[3]
Angola Agostinho Neto SCOT 16 June 2004
Ghana Kwame Nkrumah SCOT 16 June 2004
Tanzania Julius Nyerere SCOT 16 June 2004
Guinea-Bissau Amílcar Cabral SCOT 16 June 2004
Tanzania Salim Ahmed Salim SCOT 16 June 2004
Ghana Kofi Annan SCOT 16 June 2004
Chile Salvador Allende SCOT 16 June 2004
Finland Martti Ahtisaari SCOT 16 June 2004
Jamaica Michael Manley SCOT 16 June 2004
United States Martin Luther King Jr. SCOT 16 June 2004
Democratic Republic of the Congo Patrice Lumumba SCOT 16 June 2004
Algeria Ahmed Ben Bella SCOT 16 June 2004
Sweden Ernst Michanek GCOT 16 June 2004
India Ramesh Chandra GCOT 16 June 2004
United Kingdom Barbara Castle GCOT 16 June 2004
Norway Reiulf Steen GCOT 16 June 2004
Norway Thorvald Stoltenberg GCOT 16 June 2004
United States Maxine Waters GCOT 16 June 2004
Russia Vasily Grigoryevich Solodovnikov GCOT 16 June 2004
United Kingdom Robert Hughes GCOT 16 June 2004
Netherlands Boudewijn Sjollema GCOT 16 June 2004
Switzerland FIFA SCOT 29 October 2004[4][5]
Sweden Lennart Johansson SCOT 29 October 2004
New Zealand Trevor Richards SCOT 29 October 2004
Guinea Ahmed Sékou Touré SCOT 29 October 2004
Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser SCOT 29 October 2004
Guyana Dr. Cheddi Jagan SCOT 26 April 2005[6]
Indonesia Ahmed Sukarno SCOT 26 April 2005
Guinea Diallo Telli SCOT 26 April 2005
Botswana Motsamai Keyecwe Mpho GCOT 26 April 2005
India Jawaharlal Nehru GCOT 26 April 2005
Russia Vladimir Gennadyevich Shubin GCOT 26 April 2005
Indonesia Sheikh Yusuf SCOT 27 September 2005[7]
Mali Modibo Keita SCOT 20 April 2006[8]
Botswana Seretse Khama SCOT 20 April 2006
Eswatini King Sobhuza II SCOT 20 April 2006
Lesotho King Moshoeshoe II SCOT 20 April 2006
Greece Sotiris Mousouris GCOT 20 April 2006
United Kingdom Anthony Sampson GCOT 20 April 2006
Lesotho Chief Joseph Leabua Jonathan SCOT 24 April 2007[9]
Trinidad and Tobago Dr. Eric Eustace Williams SCOT 24 April 2007
Guyana Shridath Ramphal SCOT 24 April 2007
Kenya Dr. Ali Al'amin Mazrui GCOT 24 April 2007
Botswana Michael Kitso Dingake GCOT 24 April 2007
United Kingdom Canon John Collins GCOT 24 April 2007
United States Harry Belafonte GCOT 24 April 2007
Eswatini Mandlenkosi Aloysius Isaac Zwane COT 24 April 2007
State of Palestine Salman El-Herfi COT 24 April 2007
Nigeria Chief Emeka Anyaoku SCOT 22 April 2008[10]
India Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon GCOT 22 April 2008
Cricket West Indies Philip Potter GCOT 22 April 2008
Sweden Per Wästberg GCOT 22 April 2008
United States Ron Dellums GCOT 22 April 2008
United States Harry Belafonte GCOT 22 April 2008
United States Jerry Dunfey GCOT 22 April 2008
United States Linda Biehl COT 22 April 2008
Cuba Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz SCOT 27 March 2009[11]
Germany Christian Krause GCOT 27 March 2009
Japan Sadako Ogata GCOT 27 March 2009
Mozambique Marcelino dos Santos GCOT 27 March 2009
Sweden Bengt Säve-Söderbergh GCOT 27 March 2009
Namibia Andimba Toivo ya Toivo GCOT 27 March 2009
South Africa Jennifer Davis COT 27 March 2009
Tanzania Anna Abdallah GCOT 2 December 2009[12]
United States Rev. William Cullen Wilcox GCOT 2 December 2009
United States Ida Belle Wilcox GCOT 2 December 2009
United Kingdom Elizabeth II SCOT 3 March 2010[13]
Angola José Eduardo dos Santos SCOT 27 April 2010[14]
Switzerland Joseph Blatter SCOT 27 April 2010
Belgium Jacques Rogge GCOT 27 April 2010
Cameroon Issa Hayatou GCOT 27 April 2010
United States Herbert Kaiser GCOT 27 April 2010
United States Joy Kaiser GCOT 27 April 2010
South Africa Vernon Berrangé GCOT 27 April 2010
United States George Houser GCOT 27 April 2010
Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva SCOT 27 April 2011[15]
Belgium Hélène Pastoors GCOT 27 April 2011
Russia Viacheslav Shiryaev GCOT 27 April 2011
United States Edward M. Kennedy SCOT 27 April 2012[16]
Russia Prof. Apollon B Davidson GCOT 27 April 2012
United States Randall Robinson GCOT 27 April 2012
Guyana Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham SCOT 27 April 2013[17]
Jamaica Percival Noel James Patterson SCOT 27 April 2013
India Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy GCOT 27 April 2013
United States Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson GCOT 27 April 2013
Egypt Dina Forti COT 27 April 2013
Italy Giuseppe Soncini COT 27 April 2013
United Kingdom Lord Attenborough GCOT 27 April 2014[18]
United Kingdom Prof. Gwendolen Margaret Carter GCOT 27 April 2014
Guinea Jeanne-Martin Cissé GCOT 27 April 2014
United Kingdom Jerry David Dammers GCOT 27 April 2014
United States Danny Glover GCOT 27 April 2014
United States Quincy Delight Jones GCOT 27 April 2014
United States Thomas Karis GCOT 27 April 2014
United Kingdom Lord Kinnock GCOT 27 April 2014
Egypt Alexander Moumbaris GCOT 27 April 2014
Angola Ruth Neto GCOT 27 April 2014
United States Alfre Woodard GCOT 27 April 2014
Canada Brian Mulroney SCOT 27 April 2015[19]
Tanzania Hashim Mbita SCOT 27 April 2015
Australia Gareth Evans GCOT 27 April 2015
United Kingdom Lord Hain GCOT 27 April 2015
Russia Vladimir Kazimirov GCOT 27 April 2015
United States Gay McDougall GCOT 27 April 2015
Denmark Lars Nordbo GCOT 27 April 2015
Russia Andrey Urnov GCOT 27 April 2015
Malaysia Dr. Lim Kok Wing GCOT 27 April 2015
Namibia Sam Nujoma SCOT 27 April 2018
United Kingdom Walter Khotso Makhulu[20][21] GCOT 25 April 2019
United States Tracy Chapman[22] GCOT 1 May 2023
United Kingdom Christabel Gurney[22] GCOT 1 May 2023
New Zealand Thomas Oliver Newnham (Posthumous)[22] GCOT 1 May 2023
Jamaica Peter Tosh (Posthumous)[22] GCOT 1 May 2023
Germany Ruth Weiss[22] GCOT 1 May 2023

Refusals

On 28 January 2008, New Zealand anti-apartheid activist John Minto created a controversy over his letter to former South African President Thabo Mbeki after being nominated for the award, saying that he would refuse, on principle, to accept any award from the ANC.[23]

See also

References
  1. "The Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo". The Presidency. Republic of South Africa. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  2. "2002 National Orders awards". southafrica.info. Brand SA. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. "2004 National Orders awards". southafrica.info. Brand SA. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. "24 outstanding South Africans". southafrica.info. Brand SA. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  5. "National Orders awards 29 October 2004". South African Government Information. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  6. "National Orders awards 27 April 2005". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  7. "National Orders awards 27 September 2005". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  8. "National Orders awards 20 April 2006". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  9. "National Orders awards 27 April 2007". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  10. "National Orders awards 22 April 2008". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  11. "National Orders awards 27 March 2009". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  12. "National Orders awards December 2009". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  13. "President Zuma officially begins United Kingdom state visit". South African Government Information. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  14. "National Orders awards April 2010". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  15. "National Orders awards April 2011". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  16. "National Orders awards April 2012". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  17. Lubisi, Cassius (22 April 2013). "South African National Orders 2013 – The Presidency". politicsweb. South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  18. Lubisi, Cassius. "Media Statement by the Chancellor of the National Orders and Director-General in the Presidency". The Presidency of South Africa. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  19. Lubisi, Cassius. "Presidency announces recipients of National Orders". South African Government Information. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  20. "Archbishop Makhulu honoured for helping SA's liberation". anglicanchurchsa.org. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  21. "Archbishop Khotso Makhulu (United Kingdom (UK)) | The Presidency". www.thepresidency.gov.za. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  22. Khumalo, Juniour. "Siya Kolisi, Desiree Ellis, Tracy Chapman among 32 bestowed national orders by Ramaphosa". News24. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  23. "Open letter to the President of South Africa". John Minto. 28 January 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.