SAHO global search

1963-2023

Tiego Moseneke

Tiego Moseneke, former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke’s younger brother, died on 19 April 2023 following a car accident. He was born on 4 August 1963 in…

B-0151993

1945-2025

Theresa Solomon

Theresa Solomon was born in District Six, Cape Town, Western Cape, in 1945.  Solomon lived in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, where she worked as a community…

B-0153021

1870-1950

William H. "Bill" Andrews

William H."Bill" Andrews was  born in Suffolk, England, on 20 March in 1870 into a working-class family,he left school at the age of 13 years old,he immigrated…

B-0007791

1916-1988

Pieter Arnoldus Beyleveld

Pieter Beyleveld was born in 1916 in the Orange Free State and educated at farm schools. He joined the army at the outbreak of World War II, when many of his…

B-0007849

John Gomas

John Gomas was born in Cape Town. He was a tailor by profession and a member of the Garment Workers' Union. He served as secretary of the Cape Town branch of…

B-0008110

1915-1974

Michael Alan Harmel

Michael Alan Harmel was born on 7th of February in 1915 in Johannesburg ,to Irish immigrant parents, became a radical socialist, fiercely opposed to racism…

B-0008142

1911

Sam Kahn

Born in 1911 in Cape Town, he earned an LL.B degree from the University of Cape Town in 1932. He was a lawyer, a leader in the Communist Party of South Africa …

B-0008225

1919-2010

Ian David Kitson

Ian David Kitson was born the 25 August 1919, in Cape Town. He joined the Communist Party in 1940 when it was still a legal organization. After serving as a…

B-0008264

1933-2002

Norma Kitson

Norma Kitson (nee Cranko) was born to Jewish parents in 1933 in Berea, Durban. She was one of four children, and had an elder sister Joan and brother Ronnie…

B-0008265

1949

Gill Marcus

Gill Marcus was born in 10 August, 1949 to parents who were active members of the African National Congress (ANC). She grew up in Johannesburg, where she…

B-0008444

1906-1947

Molly Wolton

Born Molly Selikowitz in Lithuania in 1906, she came to South Africa as an immigrant in 1919. Petite, excitable, forceful, and a brilliant public speaker,…

B-0008629

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

Vella Pillay

This is a short autobiography of Vella Pillay written for his 80th birthday party held on 18th October 2003 at Lauderdale House, Highgate, London. Vella…

B-0008894

1918-1998

Mark Shope

Mark Shope, SACTU General Secretary Mark Shope was born in 1919 in the Letaba district of the Northern Transvaal, he became a breadwinner for his family at an…

B-0009039

T W Thibedi

Before joining the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) in the 1920s, Thibedi was a member of the International Socialist League in the Cape and, according…

B-0009139

1923

Lutchmee Marie

Lutchmee Marie (popularly known as Aunty Doris) was born in 1923 in Mooi River but grew up in Clairwood. Her mother worked as a domestic worker, washing…

B-0064868

1929-2011

Arthur Goldreich

Arthur Goldreich was born in Johannesburg on 25 December 1929. He grew up in Pietersberg in the Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo). One morning, his secondary…

B-0065024

1952

Nozizwe Charlotte Madlala-Routledge

Nozizwe Charlotte Madlala-Routledge was born in KwaZulu-Natal on  29 June 1952. She attended Magog and Fairview Schools. Madlala-Routledge matriculated at the…

B-0067753

1949

Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe

Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe was born on 19 July 1949 at the Boksburg-Benoni Hospital. He grew up in Alexandra, Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng). His parents,…

B-0068113

1922-1978

Shulamith Muller

Shulamith Muller (nee Movshowitz) was born in Pretoria in December 1922. She studied law at the University of Pretoria, and was admitted as an attorney in 1948…

B-0068157

1920-1977

Marimuthu Pragalathan “MP” Naicker

He was born in Natal in 1920, and although his family was poor he managed to complete high school. He worked as a truck driver, a union organiser for sugar…

B-0068163

1915-1979

Vera Ponnen

Vera Ponnen (nee Vera Gwendoline Alberts) was born in 1915 in England. She came to South Africa in 1938 as a governess. The next year, she went to Johannesburg…

B-0068317

1945

Professor Raymond Suttner

Raymond Suttner is Emeritus Professor at the University of South Africa as well as Honorary Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg…

B-0068511

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

1928-2010

Jean Clarice Middleton

Jean Clarice Middleton was born in Durban. She attended Durban Girls' College and received an MA in English from Natal University (now the University of…

B-0074116

Mduduzi Guma

B-0074952

1929-1994

Ruth Gosschalk

Ruth Gosschalk was born on 27 July 1929 in Muizenburg, Cape Town. She was one of four children. Her parents were immigrants from Eastern Europe. Gosschalk’s…

B-0080096

G. Arnold

B-0081266

T. Chapman

B-0081268

J. Den Bakker

B-0081269