Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was one of the most gifted and versatile black South Africans of his generation. He was in the forefront of the public affairs of the African people for the greater part of his adult life as politician, writer and journalist. He devoted his many talents to one overriding cause: the struggle of African people against injustice and dispossession during the second half of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth century, that saw the country of his birth transformed from a colonial backwater into an industrial state.

He made an outstanding contribution in the field of literature, both in his native tongue, Setswana, and English. He is best known today as the author of several pioneering books. Native Life in South Africa, a scathing indictment of the Natives Land Act of 1913, one of the most far reaching pieces of legislation in South African history, is one of South Africa's greatest political books and represents the political views of a past generation of African political activists. Mhudi was the first novel in English to be written by a black South African. The choice of language and an historical setting indicated a political agenda in writing the book: to refute the common fallacy of black people being "uncivilized" and at the same time to present a serious indictment of segregation in general and land distribution in particular. He was also the first known black person to keep a diary during a protracted war. While working as a court interpreter in the office of the Civil Commissioner and Magistrate during the siege of Mafikeng, he wrote his Boer War Diary, that was only discovered many years after his death. His diary of the events is a valuable historical document, unique in its presentation of an African perspective.

Plaatje was an accomplished linguist fluent in at least seven languages, but apart from writing in English he was very much preoccupied with the preservation of the Setswana language. He compiled the first Setswana phonetic reader titled A Sechuana Reader, a bilingual collection of Tswana folklore in collaboration with a well-known linguist, Daniel Jones, during his first trip to England. He also collected Setswana proverbs producing Sechuana Proverbs with Literal Translations during the same period. His preoccupation with the writings of Shakespeare led to the translation of several of his plays into Setswana of which only Diphosho-Phosho (Comedy of Errors) and Dikhontsho tsa bo-Juliuse Kesara (Julius Caesar) survived.

Plaatje belonged to a small group of mission-educated African intelligentsia that in 1912 founded the South African Native National Congress, the organisation renamed in 1926 as the African National Congress. His political campaigning against the Land Act and subsequent discriminatory legislation took him twice as part of a delegation to Britain where he met several prominent politicians, amongst them the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George. He also visited the United States on his own where he interacted with prominent black leaders such as Marcus Garvey, president of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, and W E P Du Bois, the leader of the National Association for the Advancement of the Coloured People.

Although he was an African Nationalist, he was not averse to effectively negotiating and collaborating with the authorities of the time to get his way on several occasions.

During his stay in Mafikeng he would begin his career as journalist, when he became the part-owner and editor of Koranta ea Becoana (Bechuana Gazette). He went on to become one of the outstanding pioneers in the field of African journalism in South Africa. Plaatje would own and edit two more newspapers in Kimberley where he went to live when Koranta foundered, Tsala ea Becoana (Bechuana Friend) and Tsala ea Batho (The Friend of the People).

Although he lost these too, they were important platforms on which he would campaign for the rights of his people. In the last years of his life he carried on with this kind of campaign by becoming a prolific letter writer; these letters were published in the major newspapers of the time.

He was a committed Christian, responsible for organising the interdenominational Christian Brotherhood devoted to the ideals of equality and fraternity in Kimberley. In later life Plaatje became increasingly despondent about the effect of social and economic changes were having upon the lives of his people. His involvement with the affairs of the Independent Order of True Templars stemmed from his belief that moral regeneration was essential to the advancement of his people.

The home where he lived for the last few years of his life in Kimberley, 32 Angel Street, was declared a National Monument in 1992; his grave in West End Cemetery in 1997. Today, 32 Angel Street houses the Sol Plaatje Museum and Library, which are funded by donors and run by the Sol Plaatje Educational Trust .

BOOKS ON PLAATJE AND HIS WORK

1. Willan, Brian : Sol Plaatje, South African Nationalist Heinemann , London, 1984

2. Pampallis, J : Sol Plaatje They fought for Freedom series, Maskew Miller Longman, 1992

3. Willan, Brian: Selected Writings Witwatersrand University Press, 1996

4. Midgley, Peter : Sol Plaatje, An Introduction NELM, Grahamstown, 1997

5. De Villers, G E : Servant of Africa, The life and times of Sol T Plaatje Stimela, Pretoria, 2000

6. Chrisman, Laura : British Imperialism and South African Resistance in Haggard, Schreiner and Plaatje Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2002

7. Rall, M: Peaceable Warrior, The Life and Times of Sol T Plaatje
Available from:Sol Plaatje Educational Trust, 32 Angel Street, Kimberley
March 2003)

CHRONOLOGY (outline in the book by Peter Midgley)

1876 Birth of Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje on 9 October , on the farm Doornfontein near Boshof in the Free State

1881/1 Plaatje's parents move to Lutheran mission at Pniel

1883/4 Plaatje family splits up. He remains at Pniel with his eldest brother, Simon . Attends school under Rev Westphal. Extra tuition provided by the reverend's wife

1891/2 Plaatje appointed as pupil- teacher at Pniel

1893 Plaatje passes Standard III (Grade 5) , the highest standard offered at Pniel. This marked the end of his formal education

1894 Plaatje takes up a position as messenger with the Post office in Kimberley.

1896 Plaatje sees a performance of Hamlet and reads The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare becomes an important influence in his life

1898 Moves to Mafikeng to take up position as court interpreter. Marries Elizabeth , sister of Isaiah Bud-M'belle . Birth of his first child, Sainty

1899 Register for the Cape Civil Service examinations. On October 11, Mafikeng is besieged and Plaatje does not write the exam. He records his first diary entry on October 29.

1900 During the siege, Plaatje publishes a number of reports in the Mafikeng Mail -his first attempts at journalism. He re-enters the Civil service Examination and passes with top marks in Dutch and Typewriting .

1901 Birth of his second son, Richard

1902 Plaatje formally resigns from the Cape Civil Service to take up the position of editor of Koranta ea Bechuana. His involvement in the affairs of the Barolong increases dramatically ; so too does his influence over African affairs in general

1903 Plaatje takes the lead in forming the South African Native Press Association. Birth of a daughter , Olive ( named after Olive Schreiner )

1906 Koranta ea Bechuana ceases publication. Plaatje is involved in the debate surrounding the new Setswana orthography

1907 Birth of a second daughter, Violet

1909 Plaatje, unhappily , take up employment as a labour recruiter for the mines. Koranta ea Bechuana briefly resuscitated. The first South African Native Convention. Plaatje is a notable absentee, but he is involved at a later stage.

1910 The Union of South Africa comes into being. The South African Native Convention meets again, with Plaatje attending. He moves to Kimberley and starts a newspaper Tsala ea Becoana ( The Friend of the Bechuana) . Birth of a son, Halley

1912 The formation of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) , with Plaatje elected as its first General Secretary. A new venture Tsala ea Batho ( The Friend of the People ) is started three months after the demise of Tsala ea Becoana .

1913 The Natives' Land Act is passed by Union Parliament .Plaatje tours parts of the Free State and Eastern Cape to document the effect of the Act on African people. Much of this material would find its way into the pages of Native Life in South Africa.

1914 Plaatje is elected as a member of an SANNC deputation to England to protest the effects of the Land Act. On board ship he starts writing Native Life in South Africa. When the rest of the group returns to South Africa, Plaatje remains behind at his own cost to see Native Life through the press. Death of his child, Johannes Gutenburg . He publishes a contribution " A South African's Homage" in Professor I Gollancz's Book of Homage to Shakespeare .

1916 Sechuana Proverbs with Literal Translations and Their European Equivalents published by Kegan Paul. Plaatje compiled a phonetic reader in collaboration with a renowned linguist Daniel Jones, A Sechuana Reader in International Phonetic Ortography ( with English Translations) , which is published by London University Press.

1917 Returns to South Africa. On board ship he translates Julius Ceasar into Setswana . He is offered the presidency of the SANNC , but declines for personal reasons . Works on the manuscript of Mhudi. Tsala ea Batho ceases publication.

1918 Plaatje founds a Brotherhood movement in Kimberley.

1919 Leads second deputation to England. Interview with Plaatje is published in The labour Leader under the title " Homeless ! Landless! Outlawed ! The Plight of South African Natives." Completes the manuscript of a book published years later as Mhudi; An Epic of South African Native Life a Hundred years Ago.

1920 Leaves for Canada. Spends two months addressing Brotherhood meetings in various Canadian cities . Translates the Brotherhood's Fellowship Hymn Book into Setswana. At this point , Plaatje has completed two further Shakespeare translations : Merchant of Venice and Comedy of Errors .

1921 Visits America. The polemic essay The Mote and the Beam : An Epic on Sex- Relationship 'Twixt White and Black in British South Africa appears. His daughter, Olive, dies of complications caused by influenza.

1922 Visits Tuskegee Institute. On board ship on his way to Britain he starts on a translation of Othello into Setswana . As it is election time in England he assist the Labour candidate with his campaign. To ease his financial position, he accepts a job offer to act in , and assist in preparing , a wildlife film called " The Cradle of the World"

1923 Plaatje is asked to do some recording for Zonophone records . At the end of one record , he provides an impromptu rendition of " Nkosi Sikel' iAfrika" - the first recording of South Africa's national anthem . Finally scrapes enough money together to return to South Africa .

1924 Writes articles for Diamond Fields Advertiser while he tries , unsuccessfully, to re-establish a political career and to revive his newspaper. Tours the rural areas with his educational films brought from America -soon known as "Plaatje's bioscope".

1925 Continues touring with his "bioscope". Protests the Colour Bar Bill and its associated legislation

1926 Writes regular articles for most of the English- speaking newspapers and Umteteli wan Bantu ( The Mouthpiece of the People)

1927 Plaatje joins the Independent Order of True Templars (IOTT) . Defends the Cape franchise after the promulgation of the Native Administration Act. Becomes Vice-President of the Cape Native Voters' Association

1929 Completes the manuscript entitled " Traditional Folk Tales and Other Useful Knowledge" . The house at 32 Angel Street , Kimberley, is donated to Plaatje as a recognition of his service to the African people. Nominated to serve on the Sotho-Tswana sub-committee of the Central Orthography Committee

1930 Plaatje' Novel Mhudi is finally published by the Lovedale Press. The Setswana translation of Comedy of Errors ( Diphosho -phosho), appears at Morija Printing Works.

1931 Visits the Belgian Congo to study labour and social conditions. Becomes editor of Our Heritage, the short-loved newsletter of the IOTT.

1932 Offered editorship of Umteleli wa Bantu ,but declines. Plaatje dies on 19 June in Johannesburg , of pneumonia and bronchitis. More than 1000 people attended his funeral in Kimberley.