Nkosiyakhe Amos Masondo was born on April 21,1953 in Soweto,one of nine children,his parents were tenants on a white farm near Louwsburg in the Northern Natal.The family migrated to Johannesburg in stages,Masondo began school at the age of ten in Soweto.In the 1970s Masondo came under the influence of Tom Manthata,a teacher at Sekano Ntoane High School,who promoted the ideas of black consciousness and helped to foster the South African
Teboho MacDonald "Tsietsi" Mashinini was born on 27 January 1957 in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto. Mashinini was the second son of Ramothibi, a lay preacher in the Methodist Church, and Nomkhitha Mashinini, and was one of 13 children (11 boys and twin girls). He was active in his local Methodist parish and chairperson of the Methodist Wesley Youth Guild at the age of 16.His education started at the Amajeli crèche in 1963. He went on to Seoding Lower Primary, after which he proceeded to Itshepeng Higher Primary.
Joel Mabi Lengisi was born in 1920 at the Sitholeni Location, Engcobo, [Eastern Province, now Eastern Cape], Lengisi later moved to East London African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader. In October 1952, Lengisiwas banned under the Suppression of Communism Act (SCA).On 6 July 1954, Lengisi was ‘ordered forthwith to withdraw from his 'place of residence in the
Tsepo Tiisetso Letlaka was born in 1925 in the Transkei,Cofimvaba, where his parents were both teachers, he studied at St. John's College, Healdtown, Roma, and Fort Hare, where he was president of the Student Representatives' Council in 1950. Letlaka joined the Youth League at Fort Hare and was the league's first president for the Cape Province, from 1951 until 1954.
Lesedi Billy Masetlha was born on 21 November 1954 in Alexandra, Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng).He was one of the six children in a family with roots in the northern Transvaal.His parents adhered to the Bahai faith,he was able to mix freely with people of other races and to observe independent Africa when the family attended religious meetings in Swaziland and Botswana in the late 1960s.As a student at Orlando High School in the early 1970s,Masetlha absorberd black consciousness ideas and became a leader in the South African Students' Movement.He was involved in the nascent Nat
Kgalabi Jafta Masemola, “The Tiger of Azania”, also popularly known as “Bra Jeff” by many others, was born at Bon Accord near Pretoria on 12 December 1931. He lost both his parents at an early age and was raised by his sister. The family moved to Marabastad and then to Atteridgeville in 1942 where he enrolled at De Jong Primary School and completed standard six in 1947. He proceeded to Hofmeyr Secondary School where he obtained a Junior Certificate in 1950.
Samuel Makama Martin Masabalala was born in 6th December 1877, in Uniondale in the Cape and was educated in Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth. He worked for some years in Rhodesia and served in an African unit in the Boer War. Thereafter he worked at various times as a teacher, battery driver and electrician, and pharmacist's employee. Moving to Port Elizabeth in 1914, he became the leader of a workers' association that later merged into the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU).
Peter Rudolf Gisela Horn was born 7 December 1934 in Teplice, Czechoslovakia (currently in Czech Republic). At the end of World War II he had to flee his home and settled with his parents first in Bavaria and later in Freiburg im Breisgau, where he completed high school in 1954. He then immigrated with his parents to South Africa.
Griffiths Mlungisi Mxenge, the eldest son of Johnson Pinti and Hannah Nowise Mxenge, was born in 1935. His parents were well-respected peasant farmers of Rayi, a small rural settlement located five kilometres from King Williams Town, in the Eastern Province (now Eastern Cape). After Mxenge’s primary education at a local school, he obtained his secondary education at Forbes Grant Secondary School in Ginsburg, King Williams Town. In 1956, he matriculated from Newell High School also in Ginsburg.
John Beaver (JB) Marks was born on 21 March 1903, Ventersdorp, Western Transvaal (now North West Province). His father was a railway worker and his mother, a midwife. His father was a staunch supporter of the African National Congress (ANC).In 1921, his parents succeeded in getting him enrolled at the Kilnerton Teachers` Training College in Pretoria where he received a diploma in teaching. Marks participated in a strike with other students because conditions were not good at his college.
