Sol Plaatje

Sol Plaatje (actually Tshekiso Solomon Plaatje, born October 9, 1876 in Boshof, Orange Free State, † June 19, 1932 in Johannesburg) was a South African journalist, writer and politician.

Life

Plaatje was born the son of Christian parents from the Barolong tribe in Boshof district. Shortly after his birth the family moved to the Peniel Mission in Barkly West, which was operated by the Berlin Mission. There he went to school and was trained as a teacher's aide. 1894 Plaatje went to Kimberley, where he worked as a postman and further made ​​private. Shortly before the outbreak of the Boer War, he was sent as a translator after Mafikeng and used both in court and in the native administration. In addition to his native language Tswana he mastered English, Afrikaans, Dutch, German, French, Sotho, Zulu and Xhosa.

His work in the public service allowed him to become a journalist. With the financial support of the Barolong chief Silas Molema he was editor of the first bilingual newspaper Koranta ea Becoana ( " Tswana -Gazette ) " from 1901 to 1908 and since 1912 the Tsala ea Batho ( " friend of the people "). He himself published both in his own newspapers and in the Kimberley Diamond Fields Advertiser. In 1912 he was one of the founders of the South African Native National Congress ( SANNC ) - since 1923: African National Congress ( ANC) -, and 8 January, he was the first Secretary General of the SANNC. His first political campaign was directed against the Natives Land Act; In 1914, he traveled with a delegation to Britain to protest the British government against the law. The objection was unsuccessful, but Plaatje remained there until 1917, worked at the University of London as a language assistant and published three books. In 1919 he returned to London and had a meeting with David Lloyd George. In 1920 he traveled to Canada and the USA to find support for the cause of the black population.

Since 1923, Plaatje was back in South Africa. He published, participated in parliamentary sessions and established contacts with the African People 's Organization of Abdullah Abdurahman. In December 1930 he was a member of the ANC delegation to the Native Affairs Department to file complaints against the legislation. He died during a trip to Johannesburg from pneumonia.

Plaatje translated a number of works of Bantu into European languages ​​and works from English into Tswana, especially dramas of William Shakespeare.

Awards

  • According to him the Sol Plaatje municipality is named in the Northern Cape.
  • In 2004, South African President awarded him posthumously the Order of Luthuli in Gold.

Works

  • Mhudi, a historical novel (1913 )
  • Native Life in South Africa ( 1914)
  • Sechuana Proverbs and Their Equivalents European (1916 )
  • Sechuana Phonetic Reader ( 1916)
  • Bantu Folk - Tales and Poems
Sol Plaatje Local Municipality Tswana language Zulu language Xhosa language Natives Land Act, 1913 Integrated Authority File
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