SAHO global search

1920-1995

Harry Themba Gwala

Harry (Mphephethwa) Themba Gwala was born on 30 July in 1920 near Piettermarizburg.He was a politician and teacher, Gwala known as Munt'omdala or The Lion of…

B-0008136

1963

Robert John McBride

Robert John McBride was born on 6 July 1963 at the segregated Addington Hospital in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), in the section set aside for Coloured…

B-0067934

Piet Retief

Piet Retief was born on 12 November 1780 in the Wagenmakersvallei, (known as Wellington today), Cape Province. He was the fifth of 10 children of Jacobus, a…

B-0068386

1951

Frank Chikane

Frank Chikane, the son of James and Erenia Chikane, was born on 3 January 1951 in Johannesburg. His father was  a preacher in the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM)…

B-0007939

1940

Johnson Phillip Mlambo

Johnson Mlambo was born in Johannesburg on 22 February 1940. He did his secondary school education at Kilnerton. After completing his studies, he worked at…

B-0067961

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

2019

Solly Mokoetle

Solly Mokoetle was also known as Solly Mpoli in Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) circles, Solly Mokoetle left the country during the first half of 1976. As the influx…

B-0149757

1949-2007

Percival Henry Frederick “Percy” Sonn

Born in Cape Town on September 25, 1949, Percival Sonn, universally known as Percy, dedicated much of his life to the development of the game of cricket in the…

B-0149446

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

1928

James Randolph Vigne

James Randolph Vigne was born in 1928 in Kimberley and grew up in Port-Elizabeth. He went to school at St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown where he enjoyed a…

B-0141667

1966-1987

Norman “Billy Holiday” Pietersen

Norman Pietersen (also known as Billy Holiday) was born in 1966 in Paarl, Western Cape. In 1982, he was recruited by uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) veterans and became…

B-0149905

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

Mahomed Dawood Barmania

Mahomed Dawood Barmania was the son of Dawood Barmania, owner of commercial and farming properties in both Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) and Surat in the West…

B-0148826

1923-2007

Raymond Hoffenberg

Professor Sir Raymond (Bill) Hoffenberg was born in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Province (now Eastern Cape) on 16 March 1923. He went to school in Port Elizabeth…

B-0141663

1941-2013

Wendy Heather Woods

Wendy Heather Woods (neè Bruce) was born on 5 February 1941 in Mthatha (formerly Umtata), Transkei (now Eastern Cape Province). An outstanding pupil in school,…

B-0150406

1940-2023

Professor Hoosen Mahomed "Jerry" Coovadia

Professor Hoosen Mahomed "Jerry" Coovadia was born in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal - KZN) on 2 August 1940. His grandparents had come to South Africa…

B-0007958

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

1953-1982

Dr. Neil Hudson Aggett

Neil Hudson Aggett was born in Nanyuki, Kenya on 6th October 1953, the first-born child of Aubrey and Joy Aggett. He began his schooling in Kenya, and when his…

B-0007775

1925-1983

Cassim Mohammed Bassa

Mohammed Cassim Bassa the estate agent and community leader was born on 11 August 1925 in India. He was the eighth of nine children of Mohammed Bassa, a…

B-0007834

1789-1815

Sara “Saartjie” Baartman

Sara ‘Saartjie’ Baartman was born in 1789* at the Gamtoos river in what is now known as the Eastern Cape. She belonged to the cattle-herding Gonaquasub group…

B-0096312

1909-1985

Moses Josiah Madiba

Moses Josiah Madiba was born 22 November 1909 in Seshego, Pietersburg District. He was one of the seven children of Jesaya Sekgoadi and Johanna Sebolaishi…

B-0008363

1840-1887

Johannes Jane Tane Kekana

Johannes Jane Tane Kekana was born in 1840 in Moletlane, near Zebediela. A chief of the Lebelo clan of the Ndebele and the son of Lebelo Seroto and his wife…

B-0008239

1944

Sheila Lapinsky (nee Barsel)

Sheila Lapinsky (nee Barsel) was born in 1944* in Johannesburg, Transvaal Province (now Gauteng) to a middle-class Orthodox Jewish family. Her aunt and uncle…

B-0080454

1931-2000

Hendrik Jacobus (Kobie) Coetsee

Kobie Coetsee was born on 19 April 1931 in Ladybrand in the Orange Free State. His father, Johannes, was a printer, and had only one child with is wife,…

B-0007948

1798-1872

King Mpande kaSenzangakhona

Mpande was king of the Zulu nation from 1840 to 1872, making him the longest reigning Zulu king. He was a half-brother of Shaka and Dingane, who both preceded…

B-0008679

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

1954

Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu

Lindiwe Sisulu was born on the 10th of May 1954, in Johannesburg. She is the daughter of African National Congress (ANC) veterans, Walter and Albertina Sisulu…

B-0009071

1876-1932

Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje

Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was born on 9 October 1876 in the Boshof district of the Orange Free State. His parents were Christians who belonged to the Setswana…

B-0008897

1938-2005

Madimetja Lawrence Phokanoka

Madimetja Lawrence Phokanoka was born on 10 June 1938 in Raphahla Village in Sekhukhuneland, in the Middelburg District. His father, Jacob Marwale Phokanoka…

B-0094432