Sol Rachilo
Sol Rachilo (pseud. Solrah, 1929-2026) was an actor, playwright, poet and drama teacher.
Contents
Biography
Born in Pietermaritzburg where his mother was a domestic worker but spent most of his life in Soweto.
Died on 16 August 2026.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
Theatre
He began working in theatre for Union Artists at Dorkay House, alongside luminaries such as Zakes Mokae, Bess Finney, Ricky Arden, Norah Taylor and Cecil Williams, making his professional stage debut in No-Good Friday (1958), and going on to plays like Sponono (1962), Gangsters (1984), Sizwe Bansi is Dead.
He also wrote a number of plays, including Three in Number (with music by Gideon Nxumalo, 1967), The Township Housewife (1972), Grounded in Mshenguville (1989),
Film and TV
Among the films he worked on have been Joe Bullet (1973), Bullet on the Run (1982), Charlie Steel (1984), Game for Vultures, Collision
Television role included appearances in the SABC 1 drama series Lisenethini ("It's in the net") as "Capone" and The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency (2009).
Sources
Sunday Independent 20 September 1998.
Andile Xaba. 2021. 'Collective memory and the construction of a historical narrative, analysis and interpretation of selected Soweto-based community plays (1984–1994)'. Unpublished PhD thesis.
Constance Gaanakgomo. "‘A living archive’: South Africa mourns actor, playwright and poet Sol Rachilo", News24[1]
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