24 May 1870
Jan Christian Smuts, who became South Africa's second Prime Minister in 1919, was born on the farm Bovenplaats near Riebeeck West in the Cape. Smuts had a distinguished political career as an international statesman and a general in the South African Army. He also participated in the Second Anglo-Boer War (South African War).
References

Zar.co.za,"Jan Christian Smuts",From: Zar.co.za,[Online],Available at:zar.co.za,[Accessed on: 20 May 2014]|Spartacus Education, Jan Smuts,From:Spartacus Education, [online], Available at: www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk [Accessed 22 May 2013]