Jim Lithako was banished on 8 March 1954, from Witzieshoek Native Reserve, Harrismith District, Orange Free State [now Free State Province]. He was said to be one of the leading agitators in Witzieshoek, who had refused the instructions of the head of the Native Commission.
In 1957, he was served a new banishment order, because being free to move around in the district to which he was banished, he was alleged to have paid ‘clandestine visits to Witzieshoek Native Reserve.’ The new order restricted Lithako’s movement to Zwelitsha Native Reserve, King William’s Town, [Eastern Province, now Eastern Cape].
Lithako’s banishment order was withdrawn on 23 August 1967.
Contribution by Professor S. Badat on Banishment, Rhodes University, 2012. From the book, Forgotten People - Political Banishment under Apartheid by Professor S. Badat.