.jpeg)
Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (28 October 1876 – 19 April 1932) was a South African journalist, writer, and political activist. He is best known as the editor of the first newspaper in Setswana, Tsala ea Batho (The Friend of the People), and for his role in the founding of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), now known as the African National Congress (ANC).
Plaatje was born in Boshof, South Africa, to a family of Christianized Tswana. He attended school in Boshof and Lovedale, Cape Colony, where he learned English and Afrikaans. After graduating from Lovedale, Plaatje worked as a teacher and journalist.
In 1901, Plaatje founded Tsala ea Batho, which became the most popular newspaper in the Tswana-speaking world. The newspaper promoted African rights and culture and helped to raise awareness of the plight of black South Africans under apartheid.
Plaatje was also a leading figure in the SANNC. He served as the organization's general secretary from 1912 to 1917 and helped to organize the 1912 South African Native Congress Conference, the first national conference of black South Africans.
Plaatje was a prolific writer. He wrote a number of books, including Native Life in South Africa: Before and Since the European War and the Boer Rebellion (1916), which is considered a classic of South African literature. Plaatje also translated Shakespeare's Julius Caesar into Setswana.
Plaatje died in Kimberley, South Africa, in 1932. He is considered one of the most important figures in the history of South African literature and politics.
Plaatje's legacy is complex. He was a pioneer in the fight for African rights in South Africa, but he was also a product of his time. He was a paternalist who believed that Africans should be prepared for self-government before they were granted it.
Nevertheless, Plaatje was a courageous and dedicated advocate for African rights. He was a tireless fighter against apartheid, and he helped to lay the foundations for the struggle for democracy in South Africa.
