SAHO global search

1918-1967

Patrick Baker Duncan

A controversial White champion of African rights, Patrick Duncan played a conspicuous role in opposition politics for over a decade, attracting notice from the…

B-0008027

1926-2017

Helen Kies

Helen Kies (née Abrahams) was born around 1926 in Athlone, Cape Town, Western Cape. Despite a very poor childhood, her father ensured that she received an…

B-0096277

Unknown-1663

Doman

In about 1657 Doman, a Goring-haiqua Khoisan, was sent to Batavia to learn to become an interpreter. But having witnessed first hand the capacity of the Dutch…

B-0067462

1942-1993

Chris Hani

Thembisile Chris Hani was born in the rural village of Sabalele, in the Cofimvaba region of the former Transkei. He was the fifth of the six children of…

B-0064845

1922-1999

Julius Nyerere

Julius Nyerere was born on the 13th of April 1922 in Butiama village, next to Lake Victoria, in Tanganyika (name given to the British colony in Tanzania’s…

B-0125265

1948

Gavin Jantjes

Gavin Jantjes was born in Cape Town in 1948. He studied at the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Art until 1969. On 1970, he received a DAAD…

B-0008198

1920-2017

Violet Sarah Matlou (née Phiri)

Violet Sarah Matlou (nee Phiri) was born on 4 April 1920 in Rustenburg. She started her schooling in Welgeval and completed it at Mmabeskraal under the…

B-0068680

1932-1995

Barney Simon

Barney Simon, South African theatre director (born April 13, 1932, Johannesburg, South Africa—died June 30, 1995, Johannesburg), was a long-time force behind…

B-0095118

1906-1999

Dr. Kesaveloo Goonaruthnum Naidoo (Dr Goonam)

Dr Kesaveloo Goonaruthnum Naidoo  (Dr Goonam) was born in 1906 in Durban. She grew up in Grey Street, with three brothers and three sisters. Along with her…

B-0008116

1903-1972

John Beaver "J.B" Marks

John Beaver (JB) Marks was born on 21 March 1903, Ventersdorp, Western Transvaal (now North West Province).  His father was a railway worker and his mother, a…

B-0141690

1918-2008

David Hepburn Craighead

David Hepburn Craighead was born on 18 December 1918, in Benoni, in what was known as the Transvaal Province (Gauteng). He was born to parents of English and…

B-0147369

1965

Mduduzi Richard Shabalala

Mduduzi Richard Shabalala (Mdu) Shabalala was born in Lamontville, Durban, Natal (now kwaZulu-Natal) on 24 July 1965. His father was a prominent civic rights…

B-0146878

Traci Mackie

Traci Mackie was born to a working-class family, in an industrial village called Blackburn in Scotland. When she was nine years old, her parents decided to…

B-0150305

1929-2020

Jeanette Carlson

Jeanette Levinson Carlson was born on 21 June 1929, in Muizenberg, Cape Town, Western Province (now Western Cape Province). She was the youngest of Israel and…

B-0150643

1934-2021

Ronnie Govender (Sathiseelan Gurulingam Govender)

Sathieseelan Gurulingam Govender (more popularly known as Ronnie Govender) was born on 16 May 1934 in Cato Manor, Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal).  His…

B-0124457

1929-1967

Selbourne Charlton Sobizwa “Selby” Mvusi

Selbourne Charlton Sobizwa Mvusi (known as Selby) was born in Richmond, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) on 18 June 1929, to Vunina (born Nxasana) and Jotham Mvusi,…

B-0008719

1935-2009

Cassim Saloojee

Saloojee was born in Krugersdorp, in 1935. Here his grandfather ran a shop next to Dr. Yusuf Dadoo’s father’s store. After he was married, Saloojee’s father…

B-0068391

1942-2017

Joe “Sdumo” Mafela

Joe Mafela, actor, songwriter and film producer was born on 25 June in 1942 in Sibasa, Limpopo Province. His father worked as a shop assistant in a Chinese…

B-0064872

1908-1966

Arthur Nuthall Fula

Arthur Nuthall Fula was born on 16 May 1908 in East London, Transkei (now Eastern Cape Province). In 1910, his parents – Samuel and Alice (née Stuurman) Fula –…

B-0150302

1926

Johannes Jacobus Degenaar

Johannes Jacobus Degenaar was born on 7 March 1926 in Ladysmith. As a young man he was sent to the Cape to study at the University of Stellenbosch, where he…

B-0007981

1955

Rafique (Rafs) Mayet

Rafique (Rafs) Mayet was born in 1955 in Durban, Natal (now Kwazulu-Natal). Mayet matriculated in Durban and worked at various jobs since completing school,…

B-0008506

1919-1999

Phyllis Altman

Phyllis Altman was born on 25 September 1919. She went to Jeppe High School for Girls. As her mother could not afford university fees she accepted a loan from…

B-0007788

Molefe Pheto

Molefe Pheto grew up in Alexandra, Johannesburg. As a talented young boy who displayed many interests in the arts, he was sent to London to study music and…

B-0122658

1924-1978

Robert Sobukwe

Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe was born to Hubert and Angelina Sobukwe on 5 December 1924 at Graaff-Reinet, Cape Province. He was the youngest of five boys and one…

B-0009089

1915-1989

Leo Linda Sihlali

Leo Linda Sihlali was born on 9 September 1915 in Butterworth. He went to primary school in Tarkastad where his mother worked as a teacher. On completion he…

B-0148457

1921-2009

Livingstone Mqotsi

Livingstone Mqotsi (Livie) was born in the village of Rabula in the Keiskammahoek district in the former Ciskei, now Eastern Cape, on 18 April 1921. Mqotsi…

B-0149337

1939

Marcus Solomon

Marcus Solomon was born in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, on 27 January 1939. His father, a waiter by profession, was a Hindu born of Tamil parents from Sri Lanka,…

B-0141664

1925-1992

Yvonne Bryceland

Actress Yvonne Bryceland, née Heilbuth, was born in Cape Town on 18 November 1925. She worked as a newspaper librarian before her theatre debut in Stage Door…

B-0007894

1943

Sindiwe Magona

Sindiwe Magona was born on 23 August 1943, in the village of Gungululu in rural Eastern Cape (formerly Transkei). The first born of eight children, Magona…

B-0008372

1903-1972

J B Marks

John Beaver (JB) Marks was born on 21 March 1903, Ventersdorp, Western Transvaal (now North West Province).  His father was a railway worker and his mother, a…

B-0008450