Chairperson, Northern Transvaal Region, ANC
Member, National Executive Committee, ANC
At university Ramatlhodi struggled for recognition as a poet, but instead students hailed him as a political figure. He realised the gap between cultural expression and politics was very narrow.
Ramatlhodi was born at Tauetswala, a small village near Potgietersrus in the Northern Transvaal, on August 21 1955.
His father was a mine worker, his mother was a housewife. He has two sisters and three brothers.
As a child his nickname was "Montsho" because he was the darkest skinned kid in the family.
He matriculated at Tembisa High.
Ramatlhodi decided to become a lawyer after seeing his jailed brother humiliated by prison warders. His brother, who had been imprisoned for unlawful possession of an unlicenced firearm, was made to squat throughout Ramatlhodi's visit.
He enrolled for a BJuris at the University of the North in 1976.
His introduction to politics was mainly through Marimba Artists (a poetry and drama society). Ramatlhodi was writing poetry about his life but the rest of the group was writing political poetry. One drama that moved him a lot was Gibson Kente's "How Long?" From art and poetry to politics proved to be a shorter step than expected.
Students worshipped him for his poetry and he found that without realising it he had become a political figure and not just a poet. He was inspired by Sam Mahangwane and Thami Mnyele, the first a politically active dramatist and writer whose workshops Ramatlhodi attended, the second a brilliant artist who believed there was an intrinsic link between struggle and cultural work. Mnyele was murdered by SADF troops in exile in Botswana in June 1985.
Ramatlhodi was expelled in 1977 for political reasons, but allowed back in 1978 to repeat his second year. During this time he had joined the ANC after a trip to Botswana. In 1979 he was again expelled for political upheaval and took the university to court for his unlawful expulsion.
The case of Ngoako Ramatlhodi vs the University of the North ran from April to August. Ramatlhodi returned to university from August to the end of the year but did not pass. In 1980 he was refused admission to the university and worked for six months for a Johannesburg lawyer until he went into exile on July 17.
He found exile in Lesotho extremely lonely initially. In August 1981 he enrolled for a BA Law degree at the University of Lesotho in Roma and he graduated in 1984. In this period he was prominent within the ANC and on campus in the Committee for Action and Solidarity for South African Students. He wrote and did editing for Vanguard magazine in this period. He then enrolled for an LLB in 1985 but the two-year course was cut short with the January 1986 coup which deposed Leabua Jonathan.
Ramatlhodi was sent to Zimbabwe via Zambia. In Harare he joined the university in May 1986 and wrote his final exam. He came first in his class. By 1988 he had his masters in law. Concurrently with his studies he served the ANC as the head of the RPMC. From Zimbabwe, he returned to Zambia where he worked as a speech writer for the late OR Tambo.
His wife, Ouma Mathuding, to whom he was married in 1983, is involved in projects' planning and small business development for the NCCR. They have one son, Setlhodiane.
Ramatlhodi is currently deputy registrar and executive assistant to the principal at the University of the North. He also teaches public international law.