SAHO global search

1925

Gertrude Shope

Gertrude Shope was born in Johannesburg, but grew up in Zimbabwe. She was trained as a teacher, and went on to teach in Natal and Soweto. When she was 29 years…

B-0068449

1870-1950

General Jan Christiaan Smuts

General Jan Christiaan Smuts was born near Riebeeck West in the Cape Colony on 24 May 1870. His mother taught him the elements of reading and writing in…

B-0068487

1927-2019

Ben Turok

Leading member of the South African Congress of Democrats (CoD). He was born in Latvia in 1927 and came with his family to South Africa in 1934. After…

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1955

Eric Miller

Eric Miller  was born 19th of May 1955 in Cape Town. He grew up in Johannesburg. After graduating with a BA (Hons) in psychology from UNISA in 1981 he entered…

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1957

Anna Zieminski

Anna Zieminski was born in Cape Town, South Africa in February 1957. She schooled at St Mary's Dominican Convent and the University of Cape Town. In 1983 and…

B-0068665

1919-2020

Florence Elizabeth Mnumzana

Florence Elizabeth Mnumzana (née Mhinga) was born on 21 February 1919 in Mhinga Village, Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo), into the Mhinga traditional royal…

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1955-1991

Jabulani “Mzala” Nxumalo

Jabulani Nxumalo, better known as Comrade Mzala, was born on 27 October 1955, in Dundee, Northern Natal. His parents Benjamin and Elsie were both teachers…

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1906-1979

Cecil Williams

Cecil Williams was born in Cornwall, England in 1906. Williams whose father was a blacksmith left Cornwall for Johannesburg in 1928. After his arrival, he…

B-0068742

1956

Paul Weinberg

Paul Weinberg was born in 1956 in Pietermaritzburg into a progressive middle-class Jewish family. His father was a lawyer and his mother a music teacher. He…

B-0068755

1934

Reverend Mcebisi Osman Xundu

The Reverend Mcebisi Osman Xundu was born on the 11 June 1934, at Engcobo, Transkei, one of seven children of Regina and Amos Xundu.  He attended the local…

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1948-2021

King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu

King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was born in July 1948 at Nongoma, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal - KZN). He is the eldest son of King Cyprian Bhekuzulu…

B-0068907

1941-1971

Ahmed Timol

Ahmed Timol was born in Breyton, Transvaal on 3 November 1941 to Haji Yusuf Ahmed Timol and Hawa Ismail Dindar. His father came to South Africa in 1918, at the…

B-0068942

1871-1946

John Langalibalele Dube

John Langalibalele Dube was born at Inanda Mission station of the American Zulu Mission (AZM) in Natal on 22 February 1871 to James and Elizabeth Dube. …

B-0070060

1934-2004

Dullah Mohamed Omar

Dullah Mohamed Omar was born in Observatory, Cape Town on 26 May 1934 and grew up in District Six. He attended the Kipling Street Muslim primary school in Salt…

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1965

Faith Nonhlanhla Mazibuko

Faith Nonhlanhla Mazibuko was born on the 2 April 1965, at Charteston Location, Nigel. She completed her junior primary education at the Jabavu East Community…

B-0074124

1963

Lennox Madikane

Lennox Madikane was a member of the Pan African Congress (PAC) and Poqo, the military wing of the PAC. Following Poqo attacks in Paarl, Cape Province (now…

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1939-2019

Hugh Lewin

Hugh Lewin was born in 1939 in Lydenburg, Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), South Africa, to English missionary parents. At university he joined the…

B-0076346

Billy Paddock

Billy Paddock, of Irish extraction, grew up in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) in the 1950s. He attended Glenwood High School in Durban where he excelled at…

B-0076350

1930-2017

Ishwarlal Laloo Isu Chiba

Ishwarlal Laloo Isu Chiba was born on 5 November 1930 in Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa where he was also raised. His parents emigrated to…

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Mooroogiah Dhanapathy Naidoo

Mooroogiah Dhanapathy Naidoo, a South African lawyer who was an active opponent of apartheid, died on June 1 in his birthplace, Durban, South Africa. He was 75…

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1920-2018

Rica Hodgson

Rica Hodgson was born on 1st July 1920. She devoted her life to the struggle for democracy, confronting the enemy at all stages of the struggle from the early…

B-0080342

1927-2023

Blanche la Guma

Blance la Guma (nee Blanche Herman) was born on 30 November 1927 in Athlone, Cape Town, Western Cape, the youngest of five children. Her parents were actively…

B-0080449

1913-1990

Zephania ‘Zeph’ Lekoane Mothopeng

Zephania ‘Zeph’ Lekoane Mothopeng, was born on 10 September 1913, in the Orange Free State (now Free State) near the town of Vrede. Shortly after his birth,…

B-0080979

Joseph Royeppen

in 1910, Joseph Royeppen, a Cambridge University graduate and a barrister, and his companions are imprisoned for their opposition to legislation that prevents…

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A. Christopher

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1924-2020

Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy

Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy affectionately known as ES Reddy has been active in support of the South African freedom movement for more than half a century. He…

B-0082253

1950-2012

Roy Padayachie

Radhakrishna Lutchmana "Roy" Padayachie was born on 1 May 1950. He attended Tagore High School in Clairwood, Durban and then went to study for a B.Sc. degree…

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1933

Mildred Lesiea

Mandu Mildred Ramakaba-Lesiea was born on 28 January 1933 in Langa, Cape Town, Western Province (now Western Cape), the only official area for African…

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1948

Justice Zac Yacoob

Justice Zakeria “Zac” Mohammed Yacoob was born on 3 March 1948.  He became blind at 16 months because of meningitis. Yacoob attended Durban's Arthur Blaxall…

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1943-1989

Dr. Abu Baker Asvat

This article was written by Michelle Hayman and forms part of the SAHO Public History Internship The ‘People’s Doctor’ ‘He struggled to liberate…

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