SAHO global search

1874-1965

Josephine Ethel (Josie) Wood

Josephine Ethel (Josie) Wood was born on 22 January 1874 in Grahamstown. She was one of the six children of the first mayor of Grahamstown, George Samuel Wood,…

B-0009237

1924-2021

Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth Kaunda was the first president of Zambia. He was born on 28 April 1924 at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali. (In what was then Northern Rhodesia.) He was the…

B-0008233

1916-1965

Dr Arthur Elias Letele

Arthur Elias Letele was born on 2nd October 1915 in Maseru, Lesotho. His father, Elias Letele, was a school inspector. His mother, Catherine, was of Xhosa…

B-0008321

1918-2013

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

Childhood in the Eastern CapeNelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the son of Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Henry Mgadla Mandela, a chief and chief councillor to the paramount…

B-0065300

1940

Ela Gandhi

Ela Gandhi was born in 1940 in Phoenix Settlement in the Inanda district, KwaZulu Natal. Indians, Coloured, Whites and Africans lived here in harmony although…

B-0008090

1937-Cape Town,South Africa

Jacqueline Daane-van Rensburg

Jacqueline Daane was born on 17 December 1937. A White South African, her first encounter with police came in 1956 when she adopted a mute Black boy (6). She…

B-0007968

1966

Fred Khumalo

Fred Khumalo was born on 4 August 1966 in Chesterville, Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), and grew up in Mpumalanga Township close to the industrial area of…

B-0149713

1931-2021

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu (known fondly as the "Arch”) was born in Klerksdorp on 7 October 1931. His father, Zachariah, who was educated at a Mission school, was the…

B-0064794

1879-1935

Tielman Johannes de Villiers Roos

Tielman Roos was born in Cape Town on 8 May 1879. He was educated at the South African College qualified as an advocate when he was only 23 years old. He…

B-0067328

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

1932

Amy Thornton

Amy Rietstein (now Thornton) was born in 1932 in Cape Town, Cape Province (now Western Cape). Both her parents were actively involved in the struggle, and it…

B-0095146

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

1902-1996

Jane Gool

Jainub Jane Gool – Tabata was born in Cape Town on 19 March 1902 to Yusuf and Wageda Gool, the sixth of nine children. Her father, an immigrant from India,…

B-0122124

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

1915-2004

David Wilcox Bopape

David Wilcox Hlahane Bopape was the son of Pedi-speaking farm workers, Levi and Jerita Bopape. He was born in 1915 at Houtboschdorp near Pietersburg in the…

B-0007870

1940

Nomhlangano Beauty Mkhize

Nomhlangano Beauty Mkhize was born on 12 April 1940 in Sophiatown, Transvaal Province (now Gauteng). Her family’s forced removal from Sophiatown to Meadowlands…

B-0150954

1912-2003

Walter Ulyate Sisulu

Walter Ulyate Max Sisulu was born in the village of Qutubeni in the Engcobo district of the Transkei on 18 May 1912. Sisulu was born out of wedlock. His father…

B-0065415

1925

Lillian Diedericks

Lillian Diedericks was born in 1925 in the oldest part of New Brighton township, Red Location (near the railway line), in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape. Her…

B-0150170

1942-1987

Job Shimankana Tabane

Job Shimankana Tabane (largely known as Cassius Make, his alias name) was born in Maile village (Diepkuil) just outside Rustenburg on 6 December 1942. Tabane…

B-0148458

1941-2021

Baldwin ‘Ben’ Sipho Ngubane

Dr Baldwin ‘Ben’ Sipho Ngubane was born on 22 October 1941 at the Inchanga Roman Catholic Mission in Camperdown, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal - KZN). He…

B-0151032

Professor Sir 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-0095464

1935-2026

Shanthivathie (Shanthie) Naidoo

Shanthivathie (Shanthie), the eldest of five children of Ama and Naransamy "Naran" Naidoo (Roy), was born in Pretoria, Transvaal (now Gauteng) on 6 March 1935…

B-0008735

1936-2016

Hermanus Gabriel Loots

Hermanus Gabriel Loots, also known as James Stuart, is most noted for his role in exposing brutality at African National Congress camps in 1984, which…

B-0120752

1954-2008

John Matshikiza

John Matshikiza was born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg in 1954. Sophiatown was soon after demolished to make way for the White suburb of Triomf (Triumph)…

B-0008496

1940-2010

Frederik van Zyl Slabbert

Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and his twin sister were born on 2 March 1940 in Pretoria to Barbara Zacharia Hagen and Petrus Johannes Slabbert. Slabbert attended…

B-0068655

1929-2001

Johannes (Joe) Modise

Johannes Modise, or Joe, as he is known to family, friends and comrades, was born in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, on 23 May 1929. He was the only child of…

B-0067967

Magasvarie Govender

Magasvarie ‘Maggie’ Govender was born in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), and grew up in Durban Central. When she was eleven years old, due to the Group…

B-0150852

1934-1985

Sipho Samuel Hashe

Sipho Samuel Charles Hashe was born in Middledrift, Ngcabasa Village (Eastern Cape) in 1934. He relocated to Port Elizabeth in the 1950s.  During this period…

B-0149425

1918-2002

Arnold Selby

Arnold Selby was born on 14 November 1918 in South Africa. He joined the liberation struggle in the 1940s. His experience as a miner brought to light the…

B-0068700

1962

Christopher “Dali” Daluxolo Mpofu

Christopher Daluxolo Mpofu (popularly known as Dali Mpofu) is a South African advocate, legal expert, and former African National Congress (ANC) stalwart…

B-0152576