author
Sol. T. (Solomon Tshekisho) Plaatje
1876–1932
A pioneering South African writer and journalist, he used sharp reporting and powerful storytelling to record the damage of racial land laws and to argue for Black political rights. He is also remembered as an early leader of the movement that became the African National Congress.
1 Audiobook
Native Life in South Africa Before and Since the European War and the Boer Rebellion
by Sol. T. (Solomon Tshekisho) Plaatje
About the author
Born in 1876 in the Orange Free State, Sol T. Plaatje grew into one of South Africa’s most wide-ranging public figures: a journalist, novelist, translator, linguist, and political organizer. He was a founding member and the first General Secretary of the South African Native National Congress, the organization that later became the ANC.
As a writer, he is especially known for Native Life in South Africa, his influential account of the 1913 Natives’ Land Act and its effects on Black South Africans. He also wrote fiction, including Mhudi, and was celebrated for his gift with languages, translating works such as Shakespeare into Setswana.
Plaatje’s life joined literature and public action in a way that still feels strikingly modern. His work remains important not only for what it says about South African history, but for its clear voice, moral force, and deep belief in the power of words.