Seme, << SEHM ee >>, Pixley ka Isaca (1881-1951), was a South African lawyer and political activist who helped found the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC is a political party that played a major role in gaining rights for Black South Africans.
Seme was born on Oct. 1, 1881, in the British colony of Natal (now the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal). He traveled to the United States in the late 1890’s to pursue his education. In 1906, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in New York City. In 1909, he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil law from Oxford University in the United Kingdom. In 1910, he was called to the bar—that is, he became a licensed lawyer.
Seme returned to South Africa later in 1910. He soon started a private law practice. He used his practice to assist poor and underprivileged Black people. He also established the newspaper Abantu-Batho. The paper covered issues important to South Africa’s Black peoples. It was published in the English, Sotho, Tswana, Xhosa, and Zulu (isiZulu) languages.
In 1910, the British government merged its South African colonies to form a new country, the Union of South Africa. The new country did not allow Black citizens to serve in its central Parliament. Seme organized a meeting of Black leaders to form a unified group to work for Black rights. The South African Native National Congress—later renamed the African National Congress—first met in 1912. Seme became the Congress’s treasurer.
In 1912, Seme founded the Native Farmers’ Association of Africa. The organization bought farmland in the Transvaal region for poor Black farmers to settle. In 1913, the white government passed a law making it illegal for Black people to buy Transvaal farmland outside of designated areas.
Seme served as president of the ANC from 1930 to 1936. He died in Johannesburg on June 7, 1951.
