On 9 October 1876, Solomon Tshekisho “Sol” Plaatje was born in the rural interior of what is now South Africa. He was raised in a Setswana-speaking Barolong family and grew up on a German mission station in the then Cape Colony.
At this time, the region was made up of a mix of British colonies, independent Boer republics, and territories under African control. It was only in 1910 that white rule would be consolidated under the nation state of South Africa. Race policies hardened, ultimately developing into the adoption of apartheid in 1948.
