SAHO global search

1924-1994

Elias Mathope Motsoaledi

Elias Motsoaledi was born on the 26 July 1924 in Phokoane in the Nebo District in Sekhukhuneland, Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo), South Africa. He was the…

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1905-1985

Douglas Chadwick Thompson

Douglas Chadwick Thompson was born on 8 August 1905 to David Chadwick Thompson and Kitty Brettle in Manchester, England. In 1907 the family left Manchester and…

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1919-1984

Cassim Amra

Cassim Amra was born in 1919 in Durban Natal (now kwaZulu-Natal).  He attended Sastri College, Durban  where he represented the senior cricket team. Amra was…

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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

1900-1972

Vernon Celliers Berrange

Advocate Vernon Celliers Berrangé was born on 25 November 1900 in the Transvaal (now Gauteng). His lived and worked all his life in Johannesburg, having been…

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1956

Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini

Mavivi Manzini was born in Alexandra Township, outside of Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng) in 1956, and then moved to Soweto. Manzini suffered from polio…

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1924-1992

Zuleika Sarojini Christopher

Zuleika (Zulei) Sarojini Christopher, the eldest daughter of Advocate Albert Christopher and Ghadija Gool, was born in 1924 in Greenwood Park, Durban, where…

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1949-2024

Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan

The contribution of Pravin Gordhan may never be truly understood and appreciated by millions of South Africans. For those of us who have had the privilege to…

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1963

Nomvula Paula Mokonyane

Nomvula Paula Mokonyane was born on 28 June 1963 in Kagiso on the West Rand, Transvaal (now Gauteng). She is the youngest in a family of 12, with six sisters…

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1936-2011

Lawrence Schlemmer

Eminent sociologist and political analyst Professor Lawrence Schlemmer was born in Pretoria, Transvaal (now Gauteng) on 11 September 1936. After matriculating…

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1933-2017

Miriam Tlali

Miriam Tlali was born in Doornfontein in Johannesburg, Transvaal (Gauteng). She grew up in Sophiatown. Miriam wanted to study literature at the University of…

B-0097205

1957-2014

Chris van Wyk

Chris van Wyk was born at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, Johannesburg in  1957 and grew up in Newclare, before moving to Riverlea, a poor suburb…

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1940

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali was born on 17 January 1940 in Vryheid, Natal, where he attended Inkmana High School. His parents were schoolteachers. He moved to…

B-0098835

1957

Saleem Badat

Dr Saleem Badat holds Bachelors and Honours degrees in the Social Sciences from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a Certificate in Higher Education and Science…

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Cecil Sols

Cecil Sols worked as a freelance photographer with a collective of social documentary photographers in the 1980s to early 1990s, helping to expose the…

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David Perumal

David Perumal lived in Derby Street, Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) and worked at College Clothing in Albert Street. He was educated up to standard six …

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1924-1999

Natvarlal Dayalji “Natoo” Babenia

Natvarlal Dayalji “Natoo” Babenia was born on 28 March 1924 at Coedmore Road, Bellair, Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). Natoo Babenia’s political activism…

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Siva Pillay

Siva Pillay was a B.Sc. student at university in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), when he joined uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the African National Congress’s…

B-0123671

1927-2018

Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe

Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe was born on 27 of July 1927 in Hlobane, Natal (now Kwazulu-Natal), South Africa. Mrs Sobukwe (then Miss Mathe) was a trainee nurse…

B-0123818

1939-2025

Sunny Girja Singh

Sunny Girja Singh was born in Cato Manor (uMkhumbane), Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), in 1939 to a working-class family. His father, Girjabaksh, came to…

B-0124272

1944

Subbiah Moodley

Subbiah Moodley is probably the most anonymous of the early uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC), recruits. He…

B-0124725

1933

Allister Sparks

Allister Sparks was born to Harold Sparks and Bernice Stephen on 10 March 1933 in Cathcart, Eastern Cape. This made him a fifth generation settler, with his…

B-0124819

1942-2018

Gerald Patrick Kearney

Gerald Patrick ‘Paddy’ Kearney was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) on 28 August 1942. He was educated at Catholic schools and for some…

B-0125558

1924-1960

Ephraim Chaka

Ephraim Chaka was born in 1924. His family came from Ladybrand, Orange Free State (now Free State Province).   He was married to Mirriam Chaka and together…

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1953-2022

Jessie Yasmin Duarte

Jessie Yasmin Duarte was born on 19 September 1953, one of nine children, in Newclare, Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng) to Julie and Ebrahim Dangor. She…

B-0125869

1932-2024

Peter Sexford Magubane

Peter Sexford Magubane was born on January 18, 1932 in Vrededorp (now Pageview) Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng). He is one of South Africa’s most…

B-0141531

2019

Herbert Mabuza

Herbert Mabuza was an outstanding photographer, who was promoted to the position of managing editor at the Sunday Times and later to the same position at the…

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1926-1996

Harold Wolpe

Harold Wolpe was born on 14 January 1926 in Johannesburg to a Lithuanian Jewish family. Wolpe graduated with a BA in Social Studies in 1949 and an LLB in 1952…

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1895-1970

Poonoosamy Ruthnam Pather

Poonoosamy Ruthnam Pather (PR) was born in Mauritius in 1895. His grandfather settled in that country after emigrating from Tanjore in India in the 1840s. PR…

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1957-2020

Vejaynand ‘Vejay’ Indurjith Ramlakan

Dr Vejaynand Indurjith Ramlakan, more popularly known as 'Vejay', was born in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), South Africa in 1957. He matriculated at…

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