Lucas Sithole was born and grew up in KwaThema, Springs, Transvaal (now Gauteng). He was one of ten sons of a Zulu lay priest in the Zion Christian Church, Richard Ndlala Sithole, and a Swazi mother whose name could not be ascertained. His given Zulu name was Ncane meaning “small”. He disliked that name and called himself Ted or Teddy, a name reflected in the signature of one of his very early works. Later he was also known as Lucas Thandokwazi Sithole. From the age of six he lived with his Swazi grandmother, Tsayi Numvumi, who was of royal blood and was a famous potter.
Haenggi, F.F. (1979). Lucas Sithole: a pictorial review of Africa’s major Black sculptor, Johannesburg: Gallery 21|Martin, M. (1993). “Lucas Sithole”. Our art 4 = Ons kuns 4, Pretoria: Foundation for Education, Science and technology, pp. 178-185.|Rankin, E. (1989). Images of Wood: aspects of the history of sculpture in 20th-century South Africa, Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery, p. 165.|http://www.sithole.com/default.htm|Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Lucas_Sithole