THE BANTU Past and Present (1920) - An Ethnographical & Historical Study of the Native Races of South Africa

Publisher's dark green cloth binding with gilt titles on spine.

398pp.

A very scarce work by one of South Africa's pioneering black ethnographers.

'Dr. Silas Modiri Molema was born in 1891 in Mafikeng, South Africa. His father was a member of the Royal family of the Barolong chieftaincy and was secretary and chief advisor to Chief Montshioa of the Barolong boo Ratshidi in Mafikeng. Dr. Molema was educated at Lovedale Institution, where he matriculated. Prior to this, he had spent some time in Kimberly where he was a teacher until 1914 when he moved to Europe. There he was admitted into the Medical School of Glasgow University.

Before returning to South Africa, Dr. Molema wrote an acclaimed history book titled The Bantu - Past and Present. Though the book was about Black South Africans in general, the primary focus was the history of the Batswana. On his return to South Africa he commenced his practice in Mafikeng and from the beginning he distinguished himself as a medical practitioner of exceptional ability with a large practice serving both White and Black South Africans at Mafikeng and distant towns like Johannesburg. Molema is the author of some useful pamphlets on health. Dr. Molema was a good speaker and one of the foremost African scholars. He married the daughter of Rev. M. J. Moshoele, one-time secretary, councillor and friend of the late Chief Montshioa.

From the 1940s, Dr. Molema was involved in the African National Congress (ANC) and he became its National Secretary in December 1949. He also served on the African Advisory Council, Joint Advisory Council, and the Constitutional Committee that set the Bechuanaland Protectorate on its road to independence as the Republic of Botswana. He also served as a member of the Legislative Council established by the British government as a transitional body sharing power with the Colonial government. Dr. Molema died in Mafikeng in 1965 at the age of 74.' - South African History Online