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1949

Lefifi Tladi

The thinker, poet, and painter, Lefifi Tladi, was born in 1949 in the culturally vibrant township of Lady Selborne in Pretoria, Transvaal Province (now Gauteng…

B-0122542

1940

Yusuf Joe Jacobs

Yusuf (Joe) Jacobs was born in District Six, Cape Town on 17 September 1940.  His father was Ismail Jacobs, a tailor.  His paternal grandfather was Manan Jamie…

B-0073817

1963

Jeremy Vearey

Jeremy Vearey was born in 1963 in Elsies River. He describes the area as a ‘different Elsies River’ than today as it was only around 50% built houses. It was a…

B-0125539

1929-2021

Norman Levy

Born on 7 August 1929 in Johannesburg to Mary and Mark Levy, immigrants from Lithuania, Norman Levy and his twin brother, Leon (a founding member and later the…

B-0008327

1964

Suzanne ‘Zan’ Louw

Suzanne (‘Zan’) Louw was born in Cape Town, 1964. She received her BA (Fine Arts) at University of Cape Town in 1986. While a Fine Arts student during the…

B-0008338

1859-1929

Sir. Julius Jeppe

Sir Julius Gottlieb Ferdinand Jeppe was born in Rostock, Mecklenburg- Schwerin, Germany in July 1859. Jeppe and his family immigrated to South Africa in 1870,…

B-0008204

1889-1970

James “Sofasonke” Mpanza

James "Sofasonke" Mpanza was born in 1889. Mpanza was founder and leader from the mid-1940s of the Sofasonke Party of Orlando township, Johannesburg, and a…

B-0008680

1923

James “Jobe” Hadebe

James “Jobe” John Hadebe was born on 29 October 1923 in Frankfort in the Orange Free State. The son of a clerk and descendant of the Hlubi chief, Langalibalele…

B-0008138

1926

Kesval “Kay” Moonsamy

Kesval “Kay” Moonsamy was born on 5 July 1926. He was active in the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) from the mid-1940s onward. In the early 1950s he served as…

B-0068092

1932-2005

Arthur Maimane

Arthur Maimane was born on 5 October 1932 in Pietersburg. He completed his matric at St Peter's College in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, which was also known as…

B-0008384

1952

Oupa Joshua Gqozo

Joshua Oupa Gqozo was born in Kroonstad on 10 March 1952. He is the son of Anna and Fikile Joel Gqozo. His father was a skilled labourer and religious minister…

B-0008121

1910-2002

Bettie du Toit

Bettie Du Toit was born on 15 July in 1910, on a farm in the former Transvaal Province. She was orphaned at three when her father died. Her mother had passed…

B-0008034

1911-2004

Freda Levson

Freda Levson was born on 21 November 1911 in Pretoria, South Africa. Her father was a prominent physician in Johannesburg. She was educated in England from the…

B-0064873

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

Mme Makwena Matlala

The Native Affairs Department (NAD) report for 1949-50 noted that ‘in the Matlala Location [Matlala's Location, Pietersburg District, Transvaal (now Polokwane,…

B-0080664

1954-1982

Topsy Madaka

Topsy Madaka was born in Gratten, New Brighton, Port Elizabeth in 1954. He was the son of Nontsikelelo and Mongameli Madaka who, both passed away in 1990. In…

B-0068165

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

1924

Andimba Herman Toivo Ya Toivo

Andimba Herman Toivo Ya Toivo was born on 22 August 1924 in Omangundu near Ondangwa in the Oshikoto Region in northern Namibia. He attended the Ongwediva…

B-0095996

1948-2026

Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick "Terror" Lekota

Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick "Terror" Lekota was born in Kroonstad, Orange Free State (now Free State Province) on 13 August 1948, into a working-class family. He…

B-0008313

1917-1993

Oliver Tambo

Early years Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (more popularly known as Oliver Tambo or OR) was born in the village of Kantilla, Bizana, in the Mpondoland …

B-0009119

1947-2006

Eric Molobi

Eric Molobi was born on June 5, 1947. Molobi was imprisoned on Robben Island during the apartheid era. While in prison he obtained a bachelor's degree from the…

B-0008625

1921-1976

Leslie Massina

Leslie  Massina was born in 1921 in Pimville, Johannesburg, Massina left school to become a factory worker. He was the son of Luke Masssina,a police detective…

B-0008477

1920-2015

Sylvester Stein

Sylvester Stein was born on 25 December in 1920 in Cape Town, and was brought up in Durban. He studied engineering at Howard College in Natal before serving in…

B-0009101

1940

Barend Jacobus Du Plessis

Barend Jacobus du Plessis was born on 19 January 1940 in Johannesburg to Martie and Jan Hendrik du Plessis. He was the eldest of three children and grew up in…

B-0008031

Laurence Neill Nathan

Laurence Neil Nathan was born in Cape Town, Western Province (now Western Cape) in 1959 to Jewish South African parents. He grew up in Sea Point where he…

B-0095075

1928-1993

Sefofane Samuel "Solly Smith" Khunyeli

Sefofane Samuel "Solly Smith" Khunyeli was born on 18th of Septenber 1928 in Steynsrus,near Kroonstad in the Orange Free State,where his father had a brick…

B-0080403

1930

Zachius Botlhoko Molete

Zachius Botlhoko Molete was born in 1930 in Winburg in the Orange Free State of mixed Tswana-Ndebele parentage. His father was a teacher. He spent 1949 and…

B-0068070

1910-2001

Govan Mbeki

Govan Mbeki (Oom Gov) joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the 1950's and remained a communist and a firm believer in the superior morality of…

B-0008515

1909-1994

Oscar Mpetha

Oscar Mpetha was born at Mount Fletcher in the Transkei in 1909 and in 1934 sought work in Cape Town, where he was employed as a dock worker, waiter, hospital…

B-0068120

1934

Albert Nzula

Albert Nzula was born in Rouxville, in the Orange Free State in 1905. He received his formal education at Bensonvale in Herschel and at Lovedale, where he…

B-0008846