Plaatje, Sol T. (1876-1932), was a Black South African writer and political leader. He was a founding member of the African National Congress and its first secretary (see African National Congress (ANC)).
Plaatje’s works include A Boer War Diary, published in 1973, which records his experiences during the siege of Mafeking (now Mafikeng) during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. The book was revised and reissued in 1990 as Mafeking Diary. Plaatje’s Native Life in South Africa (1916) is an account of the effects of the Natives’ Land Act of 1913, which created much suffering among Black South Africans. Mhudi (1930) was the first novel in English by a Black South African. It is a story of love and war set during the 1800’s.
Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was born on Oct. 9, 1876, near the small Free State town of Boshof. Although educated to primary school level, he taught himself eight languages. Plaatje worked as a court interpreter, newspaper editor, and writer. He tried to preserve the language and literature of the Bantu peoples of Africa in Sechuana Proverbs and Their European Equivalents (1916). He also translated several plays by English dramatist William Shakespeare into Tswana, a language of the southern African country of Botswana. Plaatje died on June 19, 1932.
