Born in Boshof, Orange Free State, South Africa, he was a great linguist, speaking — in addition to his native tongue, which was Tswana, the chief language of Botswana — English, Afrikaans, Dutch, German, French, Sotho, Zulu, and Xhosa. He translated a number of works from Bantu into European languages, and works from English into Tswana (most notably William Shakespeare).
Plaatje worked as a war correspondent during the second Boer War (1899-1902), the editor of Koranta ea Becoana (The Tswana Gazette) from 1901 to 1908, and editor of Tsala ea Batho (The Friend of the People) beginning in 1912. He was the secretary-general of the African National Congress and travelled several times to Europe, Canada, and the United States campaigning for black African rights.
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