SAHO global search

1927

William Sinclair Winship

William Sinclair Winship was born on 18 March 1927, in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he was a few months old, his parents moved to Mpwapwa, Tanzania, before…

B-0149434

1812-1917

Sir George Grey

George Grey was the only son of Lieutenant-Colonel Grey of the 30th Foot. His father was killed at the sack of Badajoz in the Peninsula War, eight days before…

B-0008125

1913-1994

Stephen J.C. Dlamini

Stephen Dlamini was born in 30 November 1913 in Natal (KwaZulu-Natal). As a factory worker, Dlamini became a trade union member and rose through the ranks,…

B-0008010

1937-2006

Stella Margaret Nomzamo Sigcau

Stella Margaret Nomzamo Sigcau was born on 4 January 1937, she was the eldest of the three children of Paramount Chief Botha Sigcau of East Pondoland who…

B-0009051

1948-2021

King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu

King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was born in July 1948 at Nongoma, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal - KZN). He is the eldest son of King Cyprian Bhekuzulu…

B-0068907

1929-2026

Leon Levy

Leon Levy was born on 7 August 1929 in Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng Province), South Africa, to Mary and Mark Levy, immigrants from Lithuania. Levy and…

B-0008326

1918-2011

Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu

IntroductionNontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu (née Nontsikelelo Thethiwe) was one of the prominent anti-apartheid South African leaders, widely referred to as the …

B-0065389

1938-1982

Joseph Zenzele Mavi

Trade unionist who brought the grievances of black workers int white homes through a crippling of Johannesburg municipal workers in 1980.Mr Mavi was born in…

B-0149995

1974

Hezekiel Sepeng

Hezekiel Sepeng was born on 30 June 1974 in Potchestroom, Western Transvaal. At primary school he began to show the natural talent of a good marathon runner. …

B-0144738

1977

Lawrence Ndzanga

Mr Lawrence Ndzanga,aged 53, a former secretary of the Railway Workers Union and a national executive committee member of the South African Congress Trade…

B-0144826

1850-1912

Henrietta Rebecca Stakesby Lewis

Henrietta (Ettie or Het) Rebecca Stakesby Lewis was born in 1850 at the Umpukani Mission Station, Orange Free State (now Free State Province), and grew up in…

B-0150475

1966-2012

Sicelo Shiceka

Sicelo Shiceka was born on 8 June 1966 in the village of Ingquza Hill, near Flagstaff, Lusikisiki in the Eastern Province (now Eastern Cape) His greatest…

B-0148283

1922-2005

John O’ Malley

John O'Malley was born on 6 October 1922 in what was then called Robert Heights, later Voortrekkerhoogte, in Pretoria. His father was a colonel in the army and…

B-0008853

1908-1981

Eli Weinberg

Eli Weinberg was born in 1908 in the port of Libau, in Latvia on the Baltic Sea. He experienced the First World War and the October Revolution of 1917 as a…

B-0009221

1949

Joseph Alfers

Joseph Alfers was born in 1949 in Umbumbulu, where his father was the Assistant Native Commissioner. He attended school and university in Pietermaritzburg,…

B-0007787

1924-2019

Robert Gabriel Mugabe

Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born on 21 February 1924, in Katama, a Jesuit mission station in the Zimbambe district, about 60km from Harare. He was the son of…

B-0122852

1946

Chief Hendrik ‘Hennie’ van Wyk

Hendrik ‘Hennie’ van Wyk was born in Vredendal, Cape Province (now Western Cape) on 14th July 1936. His childhood witnessed the final days of colonial rule and…

B-0084122

1947-1985

Matthew Goniwe

Matthew Goniwe was born on 27 December 1947 in Lingelihle Township on the outskirts of Cradock in the Eastern Cape. His parents David and Elizabeth were farm…

B-0064852

1942-2002

Alfred Temba Qabula

Alfred Temba Qabula was born on 12 December 1942 in Flagstaff, Bhalasi in Pondoland to Solomon and Nonkhululeko Qabula. Qabula’s father worked as a machine…

B-0093813

1915-1976

Johanna (Joey) Hendrina Scheepers

Trade union leader and organizer Johanna Hendrina (Joey) Scheepers was one of the four daughters of Sarel Gerhardus Breitenbach and his wife, Johanna Hendrina…

B-0008992

1931-2020

Jürgen Schadeberg

Jurgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin, Germany on 18 March 1931. He was raised by his mother, Rosemarie, the only child in a single-parent family of limited…

B-0008991

1927-2009

Harriet Bolton

Harriet Bolton was born in 1927 in Makwassie in Southern Transvaal, the eldest of four children – a younger brother and two sisters. Her family moved around…

B-0066421

1926-1982

Poomoney Moodley

Poomoney Moodley was born in Mooi River, Natal on 28 June 1926 to Ramsamy Dharamalingam Moodley and Kanniamah Moodley; who themselves were children of Indian…

B-0068090

1943-2000

Mampe Mosia Makhaya

Mosia Makhaya was born on 6 December 1943 in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Makhaya obtained a BA Honours degree specialising in Russian, French and Portuguese…

B-0008399

1929-2017

Ahmed Mohamed "Kathy" Kathrada

Ahmed Mohamed "Kathy" Kathrada was born on 21 August 1929, to Indian immigrant parents in Schweizer Reneke, a small town in Western Transvaal [now North West…

B-0008231

1969

Nicodemus Kgoathe

Mr Nicodemus Kgoathe was one of eleven Bakwena-ba-Mokgopa tribesmen detained after an attempt was made to burn down the resident of a tribal headman who had…

B-0149786

William Mothipa (Willie) Madisha

Willie Madisha grew up in the Atteridgeville Township of Pretoria. He completed his high school education in Attridgeville and then studied to become a teacher…

B-0149416

1954

Oprah Winfrey

Daughter of Vernon Winfrey by Vernita Lee (May 2, 1935 - November 22, 2018), a former maid. She was raised as the daughter of Vernon Winfrey, a coal miner,…

B-0149794

1948

Moses Jongizizwe Mayekiso

Moses Jongizizwe Mayekiso was born on 21 October 1948 in Askeaton, Cala district, Transkei. He was the eldest of 12 children to Ellen and Betwell Mayekiso. He…

B-0008505

1959

Fholisani Sydney Mufamadi

Sydney Mufamadi was born on 28 February 1959 in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. Mufamadi is the eldest of the four children of Masindi and Reuben, who are…

B-0008704