SAHO global search

1878-1914

Jopie (Josef Johannes) Fourie

Jopie Fourie was born in the Pretoria district in 1878. He was a scout and dispatch rider during the South African War, and was wounded and captured in an…

B-0008079

1894-1982

Madie Hall-Xuma

A. B. Xuma's wife, Madie Hall-Xuma and a prestigious figure in middle-class social circles, she headed the African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL)…

B-0009246

1913-1969

C. J. Mayekiso

Born in 1913 in Idutywa in the Transkei, Mayekiso was a textile worker and later became president of the African Textile Workers' Union. He was a trade…

B-0008504

1922

Mary Goitsemang Ranta

Ranta was born in 1922 and grew up in the Pretoria area. After leaving school, she worked as a ‘tea girl’ at the Pretoria mint, and later took employment as a…

B-0068382

1951

John William Roome

Roome was born in Pietersburg, Northern Province. He studied at Rhodes University and obtained a BA(FA) in 1974 and an MA(FA) in 1975. Roome then became a…

B-0008964

1940

Patrick O’Connor

O'Connor was born in Bloemfontein. From 1960 to 1964 he studied at WITS where he obtained a BA(FA). In 1964 he was a lecturer at UDW and in 1971 he became a…

B-0008848

1949

Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was born on 27 January 1949. She received her secondary education at Amanzimtoti Training College until 1967 and began her tertiary…

B-0008011

1965

Tracy Payne

Tracy Payne’s hyper real paintings evoke a sense of sublime sexuality in the art of constraint, even if she is painting a flower. She was born in 1965 in…

B-0121773

1921-2005

Mahomed “Chota” Motala

Mahomed Motala was born in Dundee on 14 June 1921. In 1938 Motala matriculated at Sastri College and studied medicine in Bombay, India, from 1939. It was at…

B-0008657

1955

Ngoako Abel Ramatlhodi

Ngoako Abel Ramatlhodi was born on 21 August 1955 at Tauyatswala small village near Polokwane, in Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo Province). Ramatlhodi's…

B-0008935

1925-2020

Andrew Mokete Mlangeni

Andrew Mokete Mlangeni was born on 6 June 1925 on a farm in the Bethlehem, Orange Free State (now Free State Province) district, as one of a twin (he has a…

B-0008579

1931-1964

Suliman “Babla” Saloojee

Suliman "Babla" Saloojee was born on 5 February 1931 in the small town of Belfast in the then eastern Transvaal, now Mpumalanga. Babla was compelled to leave…

B-0064871

1940-2002

Caiphas Nxumalo

Caiphas Nxumalo graduated from Rorke's Drift in 1971 and during the 1970s was a free-lance artist in Pomeroy. He uses indigenous woods for his sculpture and…

B-0008834

1953-1993

Sam Tambani

Sam Tambane was born in the village of Tshiozwi Ha-Sinthumele in Venda on 23 August 1953. Sam was the first child of Kutama Fridah Tambani and Nkhumeleni  Jack…

B-0125201

1851-1897

Barney Barnato

Barney Barnato was born in 21 February 1851, Whitechapel slum of London. His original name was Barnett Issacs but changed it to Barney Barnatto when he was…

B-0007830

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

1804-1856

Chief Kgosi Sekonyela

Sekonyela was born in 1804 in Harrismith next to the Wilge River. He was born in the royal family and later became the Chief of the Batlokwa people. His father…

B-0068424

2012

Mgcineni Noki

Mgcineni Noki (40), known as Mambush, was from Twalikhulu in the Eastern Cape. He began working for Lonmin in 2009 and was a leader of the strike. On 16…

B-0121620

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

1927-1994

Mizream Maseko

Mizream Maseko (also documented as Mizraim, Mizriam, Mizram) was born on 10 June 1927. Maseko began his career as a house painter after completing his studies…

B-0008465

1967

Nkosinathi Christopher ‘Nko’ Mbuyabo

Nkosinathi Christopher Mbuyabo was born at eCintas in East London on the 23 December 1967. Nko as he was popularly known was the fourth out of six children of…

B-0068701

1889-1981

Nhlumba 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-0008574

1940

Ebrahim Ismail Asvat

Ebrahim Ismail Asvat (Aswat) was born in Surat, India. He was a committed passive resister from Vereeniging, Transvaal (now Gauteng). He was a Member of the…

B-0098479

1939

Percy Ndithembile Konqobe

Percy Ndithembile Konqobe was born in 1939 in Nigel, Transvaal (now known as Gauteng Province). He completed school through standard six (now Grade Eight)…

B-0099633

1905-1977

Hyman Meir Basner

Hyman M Basner was born in Russia in 1905, and moved to South Africa at an early age. Basner  and his mother  joined other family members in South Africa in…

B-0007833

1943-2000

Mampe Mosia Makhaya

Mosia Makhaya was born on 6 December 1943 in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Makhaya obtained a BA Honours degree specialising in Russian, French and Portuguese…

B-0008399

Douglas G. Wolton

Douglas G Wolton was a leader of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) from 1931 to 1933. He was born in Yorkshire, England, and immigrated to South…

B-0009236

1927-2013

Francois Roux

Francois Roux was born in 1927 at Fort Victoria, Masvingo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He attended the Boys High School, Stellenbosch from 1940 to 1946. …

B-0096207

1894-1974

William George Ballinger

William George Ballinger was born on 21st of September in 1894 in Britain. In 1928 he was sent to South Africa by the British Independent Labour Party as an…

B-0007814

Gaur Radebe

Gaur Radebe was born in 1908 and completed about seven years of schooling. As an activist in both the Communist Party of South Africa and the African National…

B-0008925