Educationist George Molefe is born

Mbanga James George Benjamin Molefe, clergyman and headmaster, was born in Mbulwana, Ladysmith, Natal. Molefe was one of the first black Presbyterian ministers to graduate at Fort Hare College in 1932. He was ordained in the same year in the Bantu Presbyterian Church and inducted to the Spookmill Church, Newcastle. After obtaining an MA degree at Columbia University in New York, Molefe accepted an appointment as minister of religion in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth in 1939. As result of his tireless efforts to improve the quality of schooling and general living conditions, he received the 'Freedom of Port Elizabeth's African Townships' in 1973 in recognition of his efforts to better the position of its residents. Molefe received many accolades during his lifetime that were firsts for Black South Africans. He died in 1986 and survived by his wife and two children.