MHUDI: an epic of South African native life a hundred years ago

225 pages. Cloth, worn along spine. Spotting and name on endpapers.

Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876-1932) was born in Boshof in the Free State and grew up on a Lutheran Mission Station. He was largely self-educated, could speak eight languages, and was widely travelled. He became a political journalist and was a founder member of the African Native National Congress, becoming the organization’s first Secretary-General in 1912. MHUDI was the first novel written in English by a black African. The story concerns Mzilikazi's routing of the Baralong, during the ferment of the 1830s. Mhudi and her husband Ra-Thaga are present when the Baralong form an alliance with the Boer frontiersmen of the Great Trek, resulting in the Battle of Vegkop, under the tail of Hailey's Comet. Among his other works were NATIVE LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA (a plea against the Land Act of 1913, which he believed would cause great damage to race relations) and Shakespearean works which he translated into SeTswana. He was strongly opposed to tribalism and exemplified the spirit of national unity among African intellectuals.The Kimberley municipal district has been named the Sol Plaatje Municipality in his honour.