Durban: South Africa on December 10 honoured Mahatma Gandhi with the prestigious Order of the Companions of O R Tambo, for his contributions to world peace.

Gandhi, who crafted the philosophy of Satyagraha in South Africa to highlight the plight of the oppressed, was honoured posthumously along with Dr Kenneth Kaunda, former President of Zambia and Olof Palme, former President of Sweden who was assassinated in the late 1980s.

The Order of the Companions of O R Tambo is a new award created by the South African government to honour foreign nationals for friendship shown to South Africa and for active solidarity and support given to the country.

The Order of Mapungubwe, which replaced old awards created under Apartheid rule, was given to former President Nelson Mandela, in the platinum category while Mandela's predecessor F W de Klerk, was presented with the national award in the gold category.

The first Judge President of South Africa appointed after the 1994 democratic elections, late Ismail Mahomed, who was of Indian-origin, was presented with an award for contributions to the promotion of freedom, peace and democracy.

Praising the recipients as heroes, President Thabo Mbeki said all South Africans must continue to work together.

"We are working together as South Africans to understand where we are today, to define where we need to be tomorrow, to identify the things that have to be done to translate the vision of non-racism and a shared humanity into the actual empowerment of the people freely to determine their destiny."

Mbeki said that in the near future there would be three additional National Orders "for courage, creative talent and Human Rights".

PTI