Richard Mahabane was born in Thaba Nchu, Orange Free State (now Free Stae Province), on 15 August 1881. His parents were Christians and prosperous farmers. After his primary school education in Thaba Nchu he was send to Morija Mission Institute in Basotholand (Lesotho) where he qualified as a teacher in 1901. He soon gave up teaching and became a court interpreter. In 1908 he began theological training at the Lessyton Theological school near Queenstown. He was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1914.

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