Michael Manley

LATE former prime minister, Michael Manley, will be posthumously awarded the Order of Companions of O R Tambo in South Africa, tomorrow.

South African President Thabo Mbeki will present the award tomorrow to Manley's widow, Glynne, at a ceremony in Pretoria.

The Order of the Companions of O R Tambo was recently created by the South African Government to honour citizens of foreign countries who have promoted the interests and share the aspirations of the Republic of South Africa. The order will be given in three categories - gold, silver and bronze.

Manley will be given the gold award, which bears the designation 'Supreme Companion". That category applies to heads of state and in special cases heads of government, and other prominent persons who have promoted the interests and aspirations of the Republic of South Africa "at the higher levels through excellent cooperation and active expression of solidarity and support".

Manley was in 1978 awarded the UN Gold Medal for his "significant contribution in cooperation with the United Nations and in solidarity with the South African liberation movement in the international campaign against apartheid".

The South African award is named in honour of the late Oliver Reginald Tambo, a former president of the African National Congress (ANC) who spearheaded the successful campaign to internationalise the anti-apartheid movement.

Chairman of the Michael Manley Foundation Danny Roberts yesterday welcomed the news of the conferment of the Order of Companions of O R Tambo on Michael Manley, saying the timing of this latest in a string of international honours accorded Manley was particularly appropriate, coming in the midst of events organised by the foundation to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Manley's birth.

Manley, who died in 1997, served as prime minister from 1972 to 1980 and again from 1989 to 1992.

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