SAHO global search

1950-2012

Zwelakhe Sisulu

Zwelakhe Sisulu was born in Soweto on 17 December 1950, to liberation struggle icons Walter and Albertina Sisulu. He was the third of five children. When he…

B-0093770

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

1930-2007

Elize Botha

Elizabeth Botha (née Lindes) was born on 19 November 1930 and grew up in Krugersdorp, West Rand, Transvaal (now Gauteng). She enrolled at the University of…

B-0007876

1950

Winston Churchill Masakeng Saoli

Winston Churchill Masakeng Saoli was born on 3 January 1950 in the town of Acornhoek, Eastern Transvaal, now known as Mpumalanga Province. He was the second of…

B-0008985

1921-2007

Arthur David Bensusan

Dr Arthur David (Kin) Bensusan was born in Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng) in 1921. The son of a physician, he schooled at St John's College,…

B-0096200

1942

Helene Marie Passtoors

Hélène Passtoors, a Belgian national was born in the Netherlands (from a Belgian-Dutch family) on 9 August 1942. She immersed herself in the struggles of…

B-0068677

Unknown-Unknown

Samuel Chibane

Samuel Chibane was born in Pretoria and became involved with the PAC as a student at Wilberforce Institute in Evaton, near Sharpeville. In 1963 he was…

B-0007938

Deputy Chief Msizwana Mbata

Documentation related to Deputy Chief Msizwana Mbata’s banishment alleges that 10 years of community conflict in the districts of Estcourt and Weenen, Natal …

B-0093805

1959

Jane Alexander

This biography was written by SAHO in collaboration with Artthrob Modus Operandi Jane Alexander is known for her figurative sculptures, often appearing…

B-0007786

1873-1905

Enoch Mankayi Sontonga

Enoch Mankayi Sontonga was born in Uitenhage, Eastern Province (now Eastern Cape) around 1873 as a member of the Xhosa-speaking Mpinga clan of the Tembu tribe…

B-0009097

1939-2013

Pius Nkonzo Langa

Pius Nkonzo Langa was born in Bushbuckridge in the eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), South Africa, on 25 March 1939, the second of seven children. In 1957,…

B-0008295

1817-1887

Jan Gerritze Bantjes

Jan Gerritze Bantjes was born in Graaff-Reinet district. He was a member of Voortrekker leader Jacob de Clercq's group who arrived at Blesberg, in the present…

B-0007822

1913-1967

Louis Washkansky

Of Lithuanian Jewish extraction, Louis Washkansky came to South Africa aged 9, and became a grocer in Cape Town’s Greenpoint area. Washkansky saw active…

B-0008335

1949-2010

Robert Edward Jansen

Legendary Cape Town jazz musician, Robert Edward Jansen was born on 5 August 1949.  The Cape Doctor, as he was popularly known, was one of South Africa’s most…

B-0008196

1948

George Msimang

George Msimang was born on 26 October 1948 in Durban. Msimang's interest in art began at school although art was not offered as a subject. He left Lamontville…

B-0008694

1947

Ben Skosana

Ben Skosana was born in Sharpeville on 7 May 1947. He qualified as a teacher from the Wilberforce Training College, and later pursued further studies at St…

B-0068484

Unknown-1929

Hermanus Lethebe

Towards the end of 1929, the Minister of Justice, Oswald Pirow, announced a new bill, an amendment to the Riotous Assemblies Act, which would give him the…

B-0067162

1941-1985

Judson Diza Kuzwayo

Judson Diza Kuzwayo was born August 25,1941 at Adams Mission in rural Natal and completed his junior certificate at the Loram Secondary School.He joined the…

B-0077958

C. S. Ramohanoe

C. S Ramohanoe was a provincial President of the Transvaal African National Congress (ANC) from 1944 to 1950 and later head of the faction known as the…

B-0008937

Dr Aubrey Maitshwe Mokoape

Dr. Maitshwe Nchaupe Aubrey Mokoape, a medical doctor at the King Edward VII Hospital, Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) became invovled in politics at the…

B-0080847

1949-2009

Henry Eric Isaacs

Henry Eric Isaacs was born March 21 in 1949,He grew up in Raisethorpe,a peri-urban area of Pietermaritzburg.His family was of diverse racial composition:one…

B-0080351

1954

Wendy Schwegmann

Wendy Schwegmann was born in 1954 in Zululand, where she spent her youth. She has a diploma in Interior Design from Natal Technical college and is a graduate…

B-0008998

1920

Jaydew Nasib Singh

Jaydew Nasib Singh was born in South Africa about 1920 and graduated in the mid-1940s with a law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was…

B-0009066

1955

Gana Makabeni

Gana Makabeni  was born in the Transkei.  He attended a Communist night school and joined the Communist Party of South Africa (SACP) as a young worker in the…

B-0008391

1889

Bertha Mkhize

Bertha Mkhize was born in 1889 in Embo, near Mkhomazi. Her father, an ox wagon driver died when Bertha was about four years old, after his death her family…

B-0067956

1944

Julian Raymond Cobbing

Julian Cobbing was born in 1944 in London. He studied at the University of London where he gained his Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and later obtained his PHD…

B-0093742

1954

Eric Anthony Abraham

Eric Anthony Abraham was from Wynberg, Cape Town, Western Province (now Western Cape). He was a University of Cape Town graduate who had worked as a…

B-0079862

1942

Ben Wa Mokoena Arnold

Ben Wa Mokoena Arnold was born on 19 July 1942 in Johannesburg. Arnold attended school in Albertville, Newclare and Coronationville. In 1957 he studied under…

B-0007797

1863-1928

Edward Clark Churchill Mace

Edward Clark Churchill Mace was born in Leicester, England, 1863. He emigrated to Australia when he was eighteen and made a fortune from mining. Rendered…

B-0008356

1954

Vice Admiral Refiloe Johannes Mudimu

Vice Admiral J. Mudimu was born on 6 March 1954 in Sophiatown (Johannesburg). He joined the African National Congress (ANC) and Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) in 1975…

B-0074796