Whakakihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Thabang Sampson Phathakge Makwetla i te 18 o Mei 1957 i Lydenburg, he taone maina i te rohe o Eastern Transvaal, e mohiotia ana inaianei ko Mpumalanga, Awherika ki te Tonga. Mai i tana whai wāhi ki te
I te whakaekenga o nga akonga o Soweto i te Pipiri 1976, i akina ia ki te rere atu 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.