SAHO global search

1953

Mosima Gabriel (Tokyo) Sexwale

… was born in Orlando West, Johannesburg as the third of six children of Godlieve and Frank Sexwale. He grew up amid the turmoil of the Black township's…

B-0009025

1905-1978

Moses Mauane Kotane

… Kotane was born at Tamposstad in the Rustenburg district of the western Transvaal on 9th of August in 1905, Kotane came from a devoutly Christian peasant…

B-0008274

1935

Satyandranath “Mac” Maharaj

… Mac Maharaj was born on the 22 April 1935, the fourth of the eight children of Mr and Mrs NR Maharaj of Newcastle, Natal. He matriculated at St Oswald's…

B-0065611

Nontsizi (Cizama, Imbongikazi yakwaCizama) Mgqwetho

… Virtually nothing is known about the life of the first and only major female poet to write in Xhosa , apart from what is revealed in her writings, almost all…

B-0008554

1908-1982

Monica Hunter Wilson

… missionaries, emigrated to Lovedale at the end of the 19th century; Monica was born there on January 3, … and graduated with a Ph.D. from Cambridge at the…

B-0009232

1923-1986

Moses Mabhida

… off the land. Mabhida could not pursue his studies because of the financial constraints experienced by his family. His … political motivators were his father…

B-0008353

1947-1974

Abram Ramothibi Onkgopotse Tiro

… time with his uncle where he assisted him with the running of the bakery business. He started his schooling in 1951 at … Primary School. The school was…

B-0009149

Bisho Jarsa

… Article by Sandra Rowoldt Shell, University of Cape Town. When Neville Alexander used to visit his … Jarsa as a boy, he never suspected the extraordinary…

B-0099923

1925-1961

Patrice Émery Lumumba

… village near the Katako-Kombe Town in the Sankuru district of north-eastern Kasai, Congo (modern day the Democratic Republic of Congo ). . Lumumba’s tribe…

B-0098660

1841-1926

John Xavier Merriman

… was a politician, businessman, and the last Prime Minister of the Cape Colony before the four provinces became the Union of South Africa in 1910. He was…

B-0008546

1956-1979

Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu

… born in Pretoria on 10 July in 1956. He was the second son of Martha Mahlangu. His father left him in 1962, and from … Standard 8, but did not complete his…

B-0076022

1954

Lele Jacob Motaung

… is a modified extract from the following source: Prisoners Of Apartheid , A biographical List of political prisoners  and banned persons in South Africa … a…

B-0008660

1925-1982

Ruth First

… Heloise First was born on 4 May 1925. She was the daughter of Jewish immigrants Julius and Matilda (neé Levetan) First. … born in Latvia and came to South…

B-0008068

Nise Bulelwa Malange

… she became fascinated and involved in the trade union work of her uncle Rev. Marawu. She attended school first in Elsies … ( Eastern Cape ) to escape the…

B-0008413

1938-2014

Patrick Vuyo Matshikiza

… Queenstown, Eastern Cape home, will go down in the annals of South African music as one of the jazz pioneers who played a pivotal role in the birth and…

B-0098784

1945-2025

David Hemson

… strict Christian household sheltered from the realities of what was happening in South Africa politically and socially. He was drafted out of high school to…

B-0094484

1929

Günther Komnick

… was born in Insterburg in the former German province of East Prussia in 1929 into a cultured family of artists. He lived through the monumental events of…

B-0097872

1938-2018

Keorapetse William Kgositsile

… political activist Ruth First . Kgositsile, being a member of the African National Congress  (ANC), through the … In one interview he was quoted as saying: …

B-0097180

Ambrose Makiwane

… high school but before enrolling at the University of Fort Hare. He became the secretary of the Laundry Workers Union as well as a member of the ANC in…

B-0069129

1924-2021

Kenneth Kaunda

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

B-0008233

1896-1948

Abdulla Ismail Kajee

… Hindus and various followers split, following the marriage of the Indian government's agent, a Muslim, to a Hindu woman. An avid learner, Kajee read lot of…

B-0008226

1893-1975

Allison Wessels George Champion

… on 4 December 1893 at Sans Souci School near the mouth of the Tugela River in Natal. His father had been adopted by … stint at diamond digging in Kimberley…

B-0007933

1913-1994

Stephen J.C. Dlamini

… through the ranks, ultimately becoming the Chairperson of the African Textile Workers’ Union in the 1950s. Together … in addition to earning two diplomas in…

B-0008010

1928-2010

Jean Clarice Middleton

… an MA in English from Natal University (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal). Following this, she worked as a teacher. … Strachan , who was later imprisoned…

B-0074116

1950

Dr Sathasivan “Saths” Cooper

… (now KwaZulu-Natal), South Africa. He was the eldest child of Alimal and Appasamy Cooper. Cooper matriculated from … A. degree at the at the University…

B-0007957

1963

Justice Sfiso Mkame

… Ainslie in Johannesburg in the mid-1980s. Ka-Mkame speaks of them as 'milestones' that took his work to another level. His ‘love letters’ of the 1980s were…

B-0008568

1924-2011

Henry Mutile Fazzie

… Henry Mutile Fazzie was born on 3rd of January in 1924 in Stutterheim. Fazzie went into exile in … his release, Fazzie became instrumental in the formation…

B-0067999

1932-1988

Johnstone Mfanafuthi Makhathini

… on to pursue further studies part time at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Makhathini joined politics and devoted his time to organizing the people as an…

B-0094854

1932-2010

Sheena Duncan

… Sheena Duncan was born in Johannesburg on 7th of December in 1932 and was the eldest of the five children in her family. She was educated at the … abroad to…

B-0008028

1962-2002

Steve Hilton-Barber

… in 1962, into a farming family. He received a Bachelor of Journalism and Media Studies degree from Rhodes … initiates gathered in the indigenous bush in the…

B-0007825