Seth Mokitimi

Seth Mokitimi (1904–1971) was a significant leader in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) during the 20th century. He fostered the development of education, especially theological education, and promoted the use of education as a tool in the struggle for liberation from apartheid in South Africa. Seth Mokitimi was also influential in the youthful development of several important South African leaders, among them Nelson Mandela. In 1963 the MCSA annual Conference elected Rev. Seth Mokitimi as their first black president, in which position he served one term during 1964 and 1965.At the MCSA Conference of 2007, 36 years after his death, a proposal that the new Methodist Seminary to be built at Pietermaritzburg be named after Seth Mokitimi was approved with "overwhelming enthusiasm". He was the first black minister to be elected as the leader of any major church denomination in South Africa.

This was just two years after Sharpeville, when apartheid was very much in the ascendancy in South Africa.

Death Rev. Seth Mokitimi died in Bloemfontein on 25 November 1971, of diabetes.