Home •  Commemoration of Plaatje  • Books for Sale  •  Projects  • Photo Gallery
1. The naming of streets after Plaatje  
  • Sol Plaatje Street, Kimberley: a quite long residential street in Galeshewe, Kimberley’s ‘’township; 
  • Sol Plaatje Drive, Kimberley: a very short street in the near vicinity of the Sol Plaatje statue, the Sol Plaatje Municipality Buildings and the Sol Plaatje University; 
  • Sol Plaatje Laan (Lane), Potchefstroom, North West: street at the edge of the CBD; 
  • Sol Plaatjie Street, Hartbeesfontein, North West: short street in the township Tigane; 
  • Sol Plaatje Street, Klerksdorp, North West: street in southern part of the town; 
  • Sol Plaatjie Drive, Mmabatho, North West: a ‘suburb’ in Mahikeng; 
  • Plaatje Street Mangaung, Free State: a short street in an outer area of Bloemfontein; 
  • Sol Plaatjie Street, Cape Town, Western Cape: a short street in Khayelitsha, a township south-west of Cape Town. 
  • Sol Plaatje Drive, adjacent to the Oppenheimer Gardens in Kimberley 

2. The naming/establishment of other entities  
  • Renaming of the Kimberley City Council from June 2001, to that of the Sol Plaatje City Council; 
  • Renaming of the Department of Education Building in Pretoria to that of Sol Plaatje House in 2010, an initiative of the late Kader Asmal; 
  • The establishment of the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership at Rhodes University  
  • The establishment of the Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley in 2014.  

3. Awards/recognition  

  • Posthumous doctorate (Doctorate of Literature, Honoris Causa) on April 18, 1998, at a graduation ceremony at the University of North-West ( now North West University, Mafikeng Campus); 
  • Chosen in 1999 by Sunday Times as one of the four best South African literary figures of the 20th century along with Nadime Gordimer, JM Coetzee and Herman Charles Bosman; 
  • The Diamond Fields Advertiser Sol T Plaatje Memorial Award, launched on February 7, 2001, at the Abantu Batho Hall. Kimberley. It is awarded annually to the top matriculation achievements in English and Setswana respectively in the Northern Cape; 
  • Order of Luthuli, Gold, awarded posthumously on 16 July 2004 by President Thabo Mbeki: highest honour in South Africa for exceptional service in fields of struggle for democracy, building democracy and human rights, and nation-building  
  • Posthumous literary award by the South African Literary Awards (SALA) in 1910: an annual event underwritten by the Department Arts and Culture; 
  • SATMA Award

4. Statues and busts (the ultimate tributes?) 
  • Bust in front of the Sol Plaatje Primary School in Mmabatho ;  
  • Bust in the Sol Plaatje Hall, War Museum, Bloemfontein (Sculptor Dina Grobler);  
  • Statue in front of the Sol Plaatje Municipality, Kimberley (unveiled on 8 January 2010, by President Jacob Zuma after an ANC Rally, (Sculptor Johan Moolman);  
  • Bust at North West University (Potchefstroom Campus), on display in the University’s Writers Garden, (Sculptor Jo Roos); 
  • Statue at Kedar Lodge, near Rustenburg (unveiled on 17 September 2016);  
  • Bust at the William Humphreys Arts Gallery, Kimberley (unveiled on 8 September 2016) (Sculptor: Anton Momberg);
  • National Heritage Museum SA in Pretoria - Plaatje on a bicycle. (Sculptors: Egon Tania and Guy du Toit).

5. Documentaries  
  • Documentary by the late Professor Tim Couzins in 1990 titled Light in a Dark World: The Life of Sol T Plaatje ,1876-1932 
  • Short film ‘’Come see the Bioscope’’. Production initially sponsored by M-Net as part of a script writing competition and broadcast in February 1994. 
  • ‘’A Man of our Time’’ produced by the well-known activist the late Beata Lipman and broadcast in July 2000 on e –TV.  

6. Plays inspired by Plaatje  
  • Place of Rock. How the Land was stolen (2004), based on extracts from Plaatje’s war diary;  
  • Hinterland. An uchroma (alternative history), featuring Cecil John Rhodes and Plaatje interacting with each other. Staged in 2013 at Grahamstown Arts festival.  
Home •  Commemoration of Plaatje  • Books for Sale  •  Projects  • Photo Gallery