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
A veteran performer from Union Artists. At Dorkay House he worked with Zakes Mokae, Bess Finney, Ricky Arden, Norah Taylor and Cecil Williams.
He made his professional stage debut in No-Good Friday in 1958. He was one of the actors in the cast of Sponono in 1962.
Helped shape and acted in Maishe Maponya’s Gangsters (1984), playing “Jonathan”. ***
He starred in the film Game for Vultures and in the SABC 1 drama series Lisenethini (It’s in the net} as Capone.
He wrote The Township Housewife (1972) and Grounded in Mshenguville (1989).
Awards
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 Unpublished PhD thesis.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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