Publisher's Synopsis
Sefako Makgatho is deserving of our closest attention and calls for our deepest admiration in the study of the evolution of South Africa. Not only did he played a fundamental role in the evolution, but he changed attitudes, created institutions and established paradigms. Sefako Makgatho is rightly called the seed plot and the root, where Nelson Mandela was to spring up. If Nelson Mandela is rightly called the Father of South Africa then Sefako Makgatho is the granddaddy of South Africa.Sefako Makgatho is the closest example in Africa of what, for want of a better word, I would describe as a total leader. The nature and scope of his intellectual and creative engagements were expansive. The man was a Renaissance in the broadest sense of that word.People admired his moral courage, his distaste for injustice, and his stubborn loyalty to honourable principles even in the face of threats from diabolical forces.He was, quite simply, Africa's preeminent leader par excellence.If South Africa has been in a long walk to freedom and self-determination as Nelson Mandela demonstrated, then we have to discover when the long walk began.Sefako Makgatho was sharp and witty publisher, journalist, teacher and leader. He was remarkable in many degrees. He inspired Nelson Mandela profoundly.Throughout his life, he remained committed to the values of human freedom, truth and justice. He fought hard and was instrumental in the founding and formation of Black urban areas around Pretoria that ultimately evolved into Mamelodi, Soshanguve, Mabopane, Garankua and Atteridgeville. No wonder he was called the "Urban Chief"
