Tuhia he tomokanga mō tēnei wāhanga - I whānau a Thabang Sampson Phathakge Makwetla i te 18 o Mei 1957 ki Lydenburg, he taone maina i te rohe o Eastern Transvaal, e mōhiotia ana ināianei ko Mpumalanga, i Awherika ki te Tonga. Mai i tana whai wāhi ki te whakaekenga ākonga o Soweto
I te Hune 1976, i akina ia ki te rere i te whenua i mua i tana whakauru. I rere ia ki Lesotho ki te whakaoti i tana kura, ka uru atu ki te parirau hoia o te ANC Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), i muri mai ka mahi hei kaiwhakaako me te komihana torangapu i roto i te whakahaere. I a ia e mahi ana i te MK, i tohaina a Makwetla ki nga whenua tata, penei i Angola, Botswana, me Zambia.