{{short description|South African media personality (born 1959)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Dali Tambo | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1959|03|01}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | other names = | education = Lancing College
| alma_mater = American University in Paris; Sorbonne University | known_for = Anti-apartheid activist, TV presenter | spouse = Rachael Tambo | children = 4 | parents = Oliver Tambo<br>Adelaide Tambo | family = Nomatemba Tambo }}
'''Dali Tambo''' (born 1 March 1959) is a South African media personality best known as the presenter of the SABC television talk-show ''People of the South'' and as the founder of the anti-apartheid organisation Artists Against Apartheid.<ref name="mg1">{{cite web | url=http://mg.co.za/article/1994-01-14-brother-with-perfect-timing | title=Brother with perfect timing | newspaper=Mail & Guardian | date=14 January 1994 | access-date=1 December 2014 | author=Bauer, Charlotte}}</ref>
==Early life== Dali Tambo is the son of Oliver Tambo, former president of the African National Congress, and Adelaide Tambo. Tambo attended Lancing College in West Sussex, United Kingdom, before going on to study at the American University and the Sorbonne in Paris, France,<ref name="mg1" /> where he acquired a bachelor's degree in International Affairs and Political Science.<ref name="tvsa">{{cite web | url=http://www.tvsa.co.za/actors/viewactor.aspx?actorid=14683 | title=Dali Tambo | publisher=TV South Africa | access-date=1 December 2014}}</ref>
Dali Tambo is married to Rachael Tambo and they have four children; their oldest son is named after his father (O. R. Tambo).
==Artists Against Apartheid== In 1983, Dali Tambo founded the anti-apartheid organisation Artists Against Apartheid with musician Jerry Dammers. The organisation organised numerous anti-apartheid concerts in Europe during the 1980s. Tambo returned to South Africa in 1991 as apartheid ended.<ref name="mg1" />
==''People of the South''== Tambo hosted the talk show ''People of the South'' on SABC from 1994 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2013.<ref name="tvsa" />
===Mugabe interview=== On 2 June 2013, ''People of the South'' aired an interview Tambo did with the President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe only two months before the 2013 Zimbabwean general election. It reportedly took Tambo three years to organise the interview with the Mugabe family. The interview generated some controversy<ref name= "bulawayo">{{cite web | url=http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-opinion-sc-columnist-byo-31163.html | title=Interview with a despot - Dali Tambo and the Robert Mugabe interview | publisher=Bulawayo 24 | date=4 June 2014 | access-date=1 December 2014 | author=Ncube, Thamsanqa }}</ref> and was criticised for being "sycophantic" by the ''Mail & Guardian'' newspaper,<ref name="mg2">{{cite web | url=http://mg.co.za/article/2013-06-03-why-dali-tambos-robert-mugabe-interview-was-wrong | title=Why Dali Tambo's Robert Mugabe interview was just PR | newspaper=Mail & Guardian | date=4 June 2014 | access-date=1 December 2014 | author=Pillay, Verashni}}</ref> and called a "public relations exercise" for Mugabe by CapeTalk567 radio presenter Kieno Kammies.<ref name="City">{{cite web |url=http://www.citypress.co.za/news/dali-tambo-hits-back-after-mugabe-interview-criticism/ |title=Dali Tambo hits back after Mugabe interview criticism |work=City Press|location=South Africa |date=3 June 2013 |access-date=1 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122205720/http://www.citypress.co.za/news/dali-tambo-hits-back-after-mugabe-interview-criticism |archivedate=22 November 2014 }}</ref> In the heated interview with Kammies on CapeTalk567, Tambo replied that "''People of the South'' [is] not ''Hard Talk''"<ref name="City" /> and that the show's laid-back non-confrontational style would be at odds with challenging Mugabe on the allegations of human rights abuses, election fraud, and the controversial land reform programme that Mugabe led.<ref name= "bulawayo" /><ref name="City" />
==Sculpture park== Since leaving ''People of the South'' in 2013, Tambo has focused his attention on promoting the idea of a commemorative sculpture park in the city of Tshwane. The planned park will feature 400 to 500 life-size bronze statues of highly-regarded anti-apartheid activists.<ref name="fm">{{cite web | url=http://www.financialmail.co.za/features/2014/05/02/dali-tambo-s-r600m-struggle-theme-park | title=Dali Tambo's R600m struggle theme park | newspaper=Financial Mail | date=2 May 2014 | access-date=1 December 2014 | author=Partridge, Matthew}}</ref>
==Statues== Through his company Koketso Growth, Tambo obtained tenders to make statues. One such example is the Statue of Nelson Mandela on the balcony of Cape Town City Hall. Tambo commissioned Barry Jacksen and Xhanti Mpakama to do the work, which was unveiled on 24 July 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/nelson-mandela-statue|title=A Monumental Tribute to Nelson Mandela Is Unveiled in Cape Town|work=AD Magazine|author=Hansen, K.|date=24 July 2018|access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref>
== Controversies == Dali Tambo owes SARS more than R1.7 million of unpaid personal tax.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malatji |first=Ngwako |date=2025-08-17 |title=Taxman pursues Dali Tambo over unpaid Sars bill |url=https://sundayworld.co.za/news/taxman-pursues-dali-tambo-over-unpaid-sars-bill/ |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=Sunday World |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
==External links == *Dali Tambo's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djd23O3v2sA interview with Mugabe], SABC, June 2013. (Video no longer available, copyrighted by SABC) *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWL43SVg6qs At home with Dali Tambo (FULL INSERT)], Top Billing, SABC, 3, May 2013.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tambo, Dali}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century South African artists Category:South African anti-apartheid activists Category:South African exiles Category:South African expatriates in France Category:South African expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:South African television personalities