About Solomon Plaatje

The Institute is named after Solomon T Plaatje (1876 - 1932), one of the most remarkable South Africans of his generation. Plaatje was an outstanding political leader, prolific writer, newspaper proprietor and journalist. He was one of the founders of the African National Congress and became the party's first general secretary. His political book "Native life in South Africa" is an indictment of pre-grand apartheid discriminatory legislation while his historical novel "Mhudi" was the first novel in English to have been written by a black South African. Sol Plaatje was publisher editor of Koranta ea Becoana (Becuana Gazette) in Mafikeng and later Tsala ea Becoana (Becuana Friend) and Tsala ea Batho (The Friend of the People). These newspapers were published in Setswana and English.