Community leader James Sofasonke Mpanza is born

Updated: 15 May 2020

James Sofasonke Mpanza (Sofasonke meaning We shall all die), community leader, founder of the Sofasonke Party and a champion for better housing for Johannesburg's Blacks, was born in Georgedale, today part of Cato Ridge. Mpanza was the only member of the Orlando Advisory Board on which the Communist Party was not represented. Mpanza himself had been on both sides of the law: first as a court interpreter in his younger days, and then as a condemned murderer. He was reprieved at the last minute and later released. In his heydays he was regarded as the father of Soweto.

How we know this

01Verwey, E.J. (ed)(1995). New Dictionary of South African Biography, v.1 , Pretoria: HSRC.

Last updated · 15 May 2020

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Community leader James Sofasonke Mpanza is born. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011132

South African History Online (2011) 'Community leader James Sofasonke Mpanza is born', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011132 (Accessed: 8 October 2026).

South African History Online, Community leader James Sofasonke Mpanza is born [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011132, (accessed 8 October 2026).

"Community leader James Sofasonke Mpanza is born." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011132. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "Community leader James Sofasonke Mpanza is born." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011132.