You will rise with your clansmen and veterans
You will rise with church ministers!
Kings like Kgama, Lekoko,
Seepapico! Thapama, Ramaisho,
Sechele Letlhogile! Senoamadi,
Kearabile!
Luka Jantyi! Masa, Thaganyane,
Gontse of Mokoto!
You will rise with church ministers like Motshumi and company
Please mourn, Batlhaping clan!
Of 'Matlhapi leorethe!
MaMkhuchoane and the children are still
weeping for you!
Your deeds are still speaking, a cow
Which produces milk in abundance does not
reproduce itself!
Please weep, Batlhaping!
Of Maboelelele joa metse?
Those who wash with milk
They take whey and rinse themselves
Why are you quiet Ikalafeng of Maretela?
Your brother is sleeping in the cold wind.
Inhabitants of Magoro weep for the
Modiboa clan!
Let dried skins be sprayed with
Weeping!
We thank God for taking you back,
sir!
Go and reign in the Belgian Congo,
We will find you there!
You led in the work of the tribe!
Sleep there in the cold of the grave
Morolong!
Lefatshe, nkometse
Sabata-mpho Mokae
Lefatshe bulega ke tsene.
Fa o mpona ke leba kwa le kwa jaana
Fa o mpona ke ebaeba jaana,
Itse fa ke le senyae;
Ke tlhoka le bona boyo.
Ga go na fa nka ipayang gona,
Fa nka tlhomang mogwaafatshe teng.
Lefatshe nkometse:
O fetoge legaga le le boteng,
Le le botengteng, le le sephara.
Gongwe nka bona lefelo,
Ka alela mamphorwana a me.
Lefatshe bulega o nkometse.
Gongwe nka kopana le batsadi ba me
Ba mphimola dikeledi.
Earth, swallow me
[English translation of Lefatshe, nkometse by Sabata-mpho Mokae]
Earth, open up and swallow me
my eyes look at all directions
because I'm a vagabond
I've nowhere to go
I've nowhere to pitch a tent.
Earth, open up and swallow me
be a deep and wide cave
maybe in there I may find my forebears
maybe I may find a place to pitch a tent
for my children.
Earth, open up and swallow me
perhaps I may meet my forebears
and they may wipe my tears.
Figure 5: Tiyo Soga (1829–1871), clergyman, composer, translator and journalist and precursor of the black intellectuals of Plaatje's generation.
Figure 6: John Tengo Jabavu (1859–1921), the leading black newspaper editor of his day. An inspiration for Plaatje although he would come to disagree with his politics.
Figure 7: Imvo Zabantsundu (Native Opinion), edited by John Tengo Jabavu, was a key influence in formulating African opinion in late nineteenth and early twentieth century South Africa.
Figure 8: Plaatje's first published writings appeared anonymously in The Mafeking Mail during the siege of Mafeking (later Mafikeng, now Mahikeng) (1899–1900). The article ‘Our Beef Providers’ was derived from one of the intelligence reports he prepared for the British military authorities.
Figure 9: Plaatje's first newspaper was Koranta ea Becoana (Bechuana Gazette), published in Mafeking (later Mafikeng, now Mahikeng) between 1901 and 1909. He is seated (front row, second from left) with his wife Elizabeth, Silas Molema (first row, extreme right) and others associated with the venture.
Figure 10: Elizabeth Plaatje (née M’belle) (1877–1942), from the frontispiece of the first edition of Native Life in South Africa. Without her support, Plaatje acknowledged, ‘this book would not have been written’.
Figure 11: W Z Fenyang, a wealthy Seleka Barolong landowner in Thaba 'Nchu, seen here with his wife Constance (née Moroka), was a close friend of Plaatje's and a backer of his newspaper, Tsala ea Becoana.
Figure 12: Portrait of Plaatje when editor of his newspaper Tsala ea Batho (Friend of the People), published in Kimberley between 1912 and 1915.
Figure 13: ‘We are standing on the brink of the precipice’. One of Plaatje's editorials on the Land Act in Tsala ea Batho. It was read out in the South African House of Assembly by T L Schreiner when the Act was debated.
Figure 14: Precursor to Native Life in South Africa. Richard Msimang, an English-educated lawyer, published a pamphlet in response to evictions resulting from the Land Act.
Figure 15: Msimang drew up a list of evictions, including the names of individuals and details of affected livestock, in areas that he visited. Reproduced here is the first page of the Orange Free State section.
Figure 16: The Organising Committee of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), 1913. Standing, left to right: R W Msimang, S Letanka, H Selby Msimang, B G Phooko. Sitting, left to right: W F Lemsana, Elka M Cele, D Moeletsi.