Moses Mphahlele

Updated: 2 Oct 2019

Summary

Secretary of the African National Congress in the Transvaal during the 1920s, teacher and interpreter, poet and musician. Composed The Dark Musician of the North and The Mendi.

Moses Mphahlele was the Secretary of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Transvaal during the 1920s, he was born in Pietersburg and received his education at Kilnerton, where he graduated with a teacher's certificate. He taught for some time, then became an interpreter. Skota describes him as a political protégé of S. M. Makgatho. In the late 1920s he opposed the pro-left position of Congress president J. T. Gumede. He was a poet and musician and composed The Dark Musician of the North and The Mendi.

How we know this

01• Gerhart G.M and Karis T. (ed)(1977). From Protest to challenge: A documentary History of African Politics in South Africa: 1882-1964, Vol.4 Political Profiles 1882 ”“ 1964. Hoover Institution Pres: Stanford University.

Last updated · 2 Oct 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2019, September 2). Moses Mphahlele. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149429

South African History Online (2019) 'Moses Mphahlele', South African History Online, 2 September. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149429 (Accessed: 25 July 2026).

South African History Online, Moses Mphahlele [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149429, (accessed 25 July 2026).

"Moses Mphahlele." South African History Online, 2 Sept. 2019, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149429. Accessed 25 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Moses Mphahlele." South African History Online. September 2, 2019. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149429.