Thomas Selema Masekela

Thomas Selema Masekela was born on 16 December 1908 in Madibeng farm near Dikgale near Pietersburg, Transvaal. Seeking education for their children, Masekela\'s parents moved from the farm where he was born to Dikgale where Masekela attended the Lutheran Mogabane mission station school and passed Standard III. In 1921 Masekela\'s father became an evangelist and the family moved to Randjesfontein near Halfway House, Masekela was sent to the Lutheran Mission farm school in Pretoria where he completed Standard IV and V. From 1925 to 1928 he attended Kilnerton Teachers Training Institute in Pretoria and then returned to Randjesfontein and became principal of the Masekela school there. He remained there for five years and in 1933 began working on the Witbank Mines and subsequently for the Benoni Municipality. At this time he came into contact with Dr C.P. Anning, Medical Officer of Health, who\' encouraged him to train as a health inspector. In 1939 he obtained his NTC2 and began working as a health induna on City Deep gold mines. In 1943 he completed the health inspectors course and from 1944 to 1945 worked in springs, supervising hygiene at the milk depot and vegetable market.